Guardian Office Days - Life on the Base
by shad12ow
Summary: "This is my record of my, no, our life with them, with the girl known as the Fleet Girls. They who fight our war against the Abyssal Fleet. I don't know who will hear it since I just recorded it for my own personal research. Just to remind me, no, us that they might be more than just a fighting machine."
1. Day 1

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – "First Day"**

Test, one, two, three. I hope this thing work. Today is Monday, 3rd of August 20XX. This is the first record of my report.

My name is Kuma Miyazo, a 2nd Class Petty Officer stationed in the base number 14424 under the leadership of Admiral Hima Kuyomo. At the moment, I am the base's Chief Engineer, in charge of the base's workshop, factory, and overall logistics. Besides overseeing the whole base's maintenance and technical work, I am also tasked to give advice regarding the girl's equipme–err, rigging. Well, to call it equipment is also correct, but the girls and their admiral called it rigging to differentiate it from miscellaneous equipment that is out of their standard equipment.

At the moment, I am in charge of a small crew that has about five men. They are specially stationed here in the base to help the girl in their daily task. Each and every one of them is seasoned mechanic and technician that have been trained specifically about the girl's rigging and also their equipment. Besides those five, I am also in charge of the fairies. I will explain about that later on.

Before I continue into today's main report, I will have to explain a few things. First is the girl. I'm talking about they who are called 'Kanmusu' or Fleet Girls. They are, as far as I know, is girl that is either connected to the soul of the olden day's warship or a reincarnation of those warships itself. Some has even called them an android specially built to fight the menace of the sea, the Shinkaisei-kan or the Abyssal Fleet. About the truth, I don't have any clarified information regarding them..

The Shinkaisei-kan or the Abyssal Fleet is the opposite of the girls. They are known as the malice of the world that took form as a monstrous individual that is bend to take over the whole ocean, if not the whole world. Some have even reported that they have similar appearance to the girls, but only with a more menacing and fear inducing appearance. Fortunately, I have never seen any of them with my own real eyes. Once again, I also don't have any clarified information regarding them.

And the last that I have to explain is the ones called the fairies. They are, how do I say it? Uhm…a miniature person that…err…have the same task as a regular seaman on board a warship. I know that this is even stranger than the first two. Or are the previous ones even weirder that this one is much believable? I will not be the judge for that. Where was I? I often trailed of when I jump out in the middle of an explanation like that.

Oh, yeah the fairies! Let's see. They are miniature person, not taller than the height of a common household cup, but all of them consist of female only personnel. They, from what I've heard, board the girl's rigging and help them in their combat just as regular seamen will do on board of their designated vessel. But besides those that are on board of the girl's rigging, they are still that stay on the base and perform many task together with my crew. My first impression of them is how hardworking they are. I'm quite impressed. I and my crew have a lot to learn from them.

At this point, I have to state again that I have only a limited knowledge about either of those three. All of the information is given to me by the acting admiral of this base. So I apologize if this information is inadequate. So please bear with it for now.

Ah, I will now get into today's main report. Today is our first day of having the first batch of Fleet Girls. As the one in charge of the technical stuff inside the base, I am required to meet and greet them together with the Admiral. There were about five of them. They are…this is going to be difficult as I am not one who can remember name easily. They are, hmm, three destroyers, one light cruise, and one heavy cruiser. So there are…ah yeah, five all of them. I'm correct at this point.

Let's see…first is the destroyer. The first is…Mustuki? No, no. Err…ah yes! Mutsuki-class Yayoi and…the pyon pyon girl, err…sorry, that is the first thing that came into my mind. The name is…Uzuki? Is it? Hmm, yes, I think it is Uzuki. Sheesh, the second one and I already made a blunder.

Okay, the next is Isonamu, I mean Isonami! Ah, if that girl heard me said her name wrong again, she will cry again. Ah, I'll tell the story next. And she is a Fubuki-class destroyer. With her, that makes it three destroyers all together.

Next is the light cruiser. Oh, I won't get this wrong. She is the Kuma-class light cruiser, Kiso. Although I will talk about my first impression of the girls later on, I will say at least two things that made me remember her more than the other four. First, as one would know it, her class name. Even she was surprised after hearing my name. The second is her eyepatch.

Moving on…the last one of the five is the one called Fure…no…Fuso? No, that's not right. Furu..te…no, no, no. Furuta…ka! Yes, Furutaka! Furutaka-class Furutaka! The only one of the five that has the honor of being a namesake ship of their class.

For my first impression of the girls, I will have to start with a statement that each and every one of them has their own quirk. First is Yayoi. She is a very quiet girl that seems to have a difficulty with her own expression. For the remainder of the introduction, she only looked at us, darting her eyes around, but stayed still although I could see a glimpse of excitement in her eyes. Maybe her expression is a bit stiff, but her eyes seemed to tell the other way.

The next is Uzuki, who in my mind, has the almost opposite personality to her sister ship, Yayoi. She seems to be a happy-go-lucky girl that goes around saying 'pyon, pyon' all the time. Did she try to imitate rabbit? Ugh, I have to say that I am quite bad dealing with this kind of girl. But I guess she is a caring one, especially for her sister ship.

Okay, third is Isina–I mean Isonami! Ah, for a single recording I have said her name wrong twice. With that, I have said her name wrong about five times for today alone. No wonder she cried. Ah…yes. I will tell you about it later. For now, I will only share my impression of her. One word about her. Timid. That is more than enough to tell her personality. A girl that is shy and somehow lacked confidence.

Next is Kiso. Just as I mentioned before, she is the one that is the most memorable, at least for me. With her class name that resembled mine and also an eyepatch, she more than enough for that. Unlike the first three, she looked much more fitting to be in combat. Her way of talking and also her way of standing, I could totally imagine her in a fight against the Abyssal fleet. And also her handshake hurt a bit.

And the last of the five, Furutaka. The girl with a spotlight for one of her eye and a Heterochromia–is that the word?– at that too. Yes, that's true. She even demonstrated it when we met because the Admiral asked about her peculiar eye. Overall, she is a very nice and polite girl that seems to have a good head. No wonder she is asked as the girls' leader for the meantime. She also smiled a lot, which made some of my crew happy.

So our first meeting with them is…memorable, if I have to put it one word. When we meet the five girls, I glanced at the admiral and saw that he looked excited. I could understand that as I heard that it is his dream to fight together with the Fleet Girls, even if this is only a small outpost far from the front line. I have to say, Admiral Kuyomo is one dedicated guy. Even after touring the whole base, introducing the girls to the base to make themselves familiar, he could still work on to their first expedition and monitor their fight on the control room by himself. For your information, I was not idling by at that time. I was at the warehouse receiving the supply for this base. Because of that, I was unable to assist him.

After finishing the supply report, I head back to the mess hall to get something to eat. I met him there with his head banged on to the top of the table. I panicked a bit and went to him only to find him asleep. How can someone be asleep in such an uncomfortable position? After waking him up, I heard his answer. Overworked and overexcited. I should have guessed. At that time, I could only shake my head with disbelieved expression. I then took my meal and ate with him. Well, he had already finished his meal so he just stayed there to accompany me.

He then started to give me…a report? You can say that. Well, since his story is detailed, I will say that it can be considered a report. He gave me a report of the girls' first expedition. The girls met only a minimal amount of danger along the way but managed to found a few resource cache of the enemy. They hauled a lot of loot from their sortie and expected to arrive first thing in the morning tomorrow. With that, I can conclude that their first mission is a very successful one. No wonder he gave a wide smile from start to finish. Well, I guess I also smiled with him since the news is very good news that will make everyone happy. I will tell the other later.

He then surprised me with saying that he wanted to stay up the whole night and analyze the initial report that he wrote when he managed the girls' mission. I almost yelled at him that time. Thankfully, I managed to stop myself from doing that and also managed to stop him from doing that by saying that he might make the girls worry when he can't meet them when they arrived in the morning due to being knocked out again. I could swear he was surprised when I said that. He also said that he never considered that possibility. He then tapped my shoulder, thanked me, and bolted out of the mess hall to get a good sleep so he can wake up early to welcome the girl when they arrive tomorrow. Ugh…just remembering that made my head hurt. It is good to have a dedicated superior that also care for their own subordinate. But he really needs to know his own limit. And this is only the first operational day of the base.

So…what else should I talk about? Oh yeah, I received a message that we will have some more resource delivered two days from now. I also have several orders to build more building for the base. I guess that is the reason for the supply deliveries. I know that this is just a small outpost, but it seems that the base will be busy later.

Oh, almost forgot. I have not talk about the event with Isonami. Hah! Finally managed to get her name right! An accomplishment for me! Yeah!...Sorry, got sidetracked there.

The story goes like this. It is pretty simple if you think about it actually. I greeted her the first time and managed to mispronounce her name. At that, she just smiled at me with a sad smile. I apologized at her and then the tour begun. When the tour went into the warehouse, the Admiral let me take the stage. I don't know whether that was an act to make the girl familiarize themselves to me and my crew or just because he didn't know what to explain. At that, I started my explanation. Fluently, if I may say so myself, since the whole thing is my responsibility. Things were going smoothly. Well…until she gave a question. I was about to answer her and…I mispronounced her name for the second time. I could see her smile twitched a bit, but she still wore a smile. I apologized to her again and then quickly answered her question. After that, there were a few more questions and I answered each and every one of them.

So when did she cried? I did say that I failed to call her name thrice, right? That was the moment she cried. It was when they were going to leave the warehouse to go into their sortie. I sent everyone off since I have to stay there. I waved at each and every one of them after saying their name. When I was her turn, I made the same mistake. That was when she cried. Everyone panicked and tried to comfort her. But she tried to put on a strong appearance. Unfortunately, I knew that it wasn't the case since I heard her muttering something along the line of 'I am a very easy to be forgotten girl' and such. I apologized to her several times but she just said that she is fine, which was a lie. Well…not a good way to make her remember me. I could also see that some of them gave me a frown after that, which I deserved.

Well, that's all for today's report. I will keep this record for…I don't know. As long as I can. So with that, this is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

Ah, finally. I can get some rest n–eh, the light is still on!? W-Wait a minute! Isn't this the button? Oh, it's this one, ri–

-*click*-


	2. Day 2

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – "Equipment Maintenance"**

Today is Tuesday, 4th of August 20XX. This is the second record of my report.

Today have been quite a tiring day for me and my crew. The reason for that is because of the girls. No, it's not their fault. I have to put that for now since I don't want to be thought that I blame them for anything. In fact, I and my crew is the one that should be blamed.

I'll start from the beginning. Just as predicted, the girls returned today at 6:00 in the morning. The Admiral, just as I predicted, was already waiting on the pier for them from about…I don't know…4:30 perhaps? I only woke up at 4 in the morning and then do a little jog before having breakfast. I only saw him when I was on the last lap. I guess it was about that time. After that, I finished my morning report and sent all of my crew to prepare for the daily check and maintenance of the whole base's equipment. Only seconds after I've finished my morning briefing, I heard one of the lookout crew rang an announcement. I quickly took two of my crew to go to the pier to help me assist the girl when they got to the base.

And there he was, the Admiral that seemingly fidgeting around while looking at the horizon. With an excited smile on his face, he kept looking back to his watch and then to the horizon over and over again. That made me asked him to calm down a bit. I said to him that the girls will be here in a couple of minutes, if not seconds. And true to my prediction, the girls really did come about a minute after that. A few exchange of salutes and then I asked them to drop off their rigging on the warehouse before they go to the dock and report to the Admiral. I heard that in bigger base there is a mechanism that let them took off their rigging automatically. But then again, this is just a small outpost. And if we really do have that kind of equipment, to maintain it with only a small crew like the one we have will be a nightmare. Better be grateful for what we have, right?

After they dropped off their rigging, I and two of my crew started to work on the rigging. And there is the start of my long day. After a few observations, we finally realized that we don't have enough understanding of the rigging construction and such that it made maintenance quite difficult. We do have some knowledge, but after seeing that each of them have some different part, we were concerned about the possibility of mishandling them to the extent of endangering those girls while in combat.

Fortunately, the fairies offered their help after seeing all of us had been wearing a worried expression. Before I continue, I have to say that it is quite strange how we could understand them while they didn't let out any kind of sound. Maybe they have a telekinetic ability. I saw them moving their mouth when they 'communicated' with us, but no sound was coming into my ears. Instead, I could understand what they want to convey directly into my mind. Quite an unbelievable ability they have. But then again, their existence is one that most of us find hard to believe.

With the help of the fairies, well…I have to correct that. We were the one helping the fairies since they were the one doing most of the work while we were only giving them small assistance along the way. Thankfully, we took a lot of notes from their own work that they have generously shown to us without hiding a single thing. I really have to treat them to some drink later on….Do they drink at all? In fact, do they take a break at all? For the whole time I'm working here with them, I've never seen them took a single break time. I guess the mysterious existence of the fairies will still be a mystery to all of us for quite some time in the future.

Where was I?...Uhm…Oh yeah, the rigging maintenance! Yeah, we help the fairies. They were much more skillful than we thought. Especially with their small –or should I say miniature– size, they could fit in to the gaps and holes of the rigging. After that, they perform maintenance just like a regular technician performs daily maintenance on a big ship. We helped them by bringing more supply and parts they would need since the parts were scattered all around the warehouse. I admit, we still haven't put enough time in tidying up the warehouse and the workshop. I'll schedule it soon. So in the end we did finally finished the maintenance of all five sets of rigging. The last task which is polishing them has been done by us since most of the technical stuff has been taken care off by the fairies. At the time we finished doing it, the sun has already set down.

The next thing I want to report is about our future plan for the base. At the moment, the base only has a single dorm where the girls live in. Just as I stated in my previous report, we have received request to build some more facility in the base. One of them is a set of dorm. I said a set since each type of fleet girl will have separate dorm. But since at the moment we only have a very small number of fleet girls, that plan can be postponed until we have some more fleet girls that will be either sent to us or…constructed? Or is it summoned? I honestly don't know. I'll ask the Admiral the next time I meet them.

For our first priority, we decided to collect enough material to sustain our operation. Thankfully, the girls' latest mission had managed to yield us more than we expected. That way, we can proceed into making some more ammunition and even more weaponry for them to use. I am quite happy to report that we will probably move into weapon construction tomorrow if there is no sudden change in our plan. Some of my crews were looking much more eager than I expected. Not that I hate that kind of eagerness, it's just that their eyes reminded me of the excitement of a mad scientist. I hope that is not the case…I really hope not.

Next is I want to report about our interaction with the girls. I expected them to be still a little…hmm…stiff when interacting with any of us. To my surprise, I was proven wrong, at least at some degree. For reporting sake, I will categorize the girls' way of interaction in three different categories.

First is the warm and friendly way. In this category there is Kiso and…what's her name again? The pyon pyon girl. Err…Ah! Uzuki! Yes, yes, Kiso and Uzuki! Uzuki, with her cheerful demeanor and constant 'pyon pyon' really took the crew's heart. She instantly become their little sister figure. For Kiso, however, she had become our… younger brother figure. I don't know whether she will get mad when she realized this, but she only has her own self to blame for that. The reason for that is her usually boyish way of talking and her rather crude attitude, we could only see her as a younger brother who is sometimes eager to proof himself. Although they both have different way of interacting with us, the two of them have similarities in their friendly way of talking and also not afraid to do some…skinship. Yeah, I guess that's a proper way of telling it. Uzuki clings to some of us while Kiso gave some of us a bro-fist and high-five. So, that's the first two.

The second category is the formal way. In this type is Y…Y…Yayoi! And Fu..Fure…no, Furu…taka! Furutaka! Yayoi and Furutaka. Those two gave us a polite smile. Err, scratch that. Furutaka did. Yayoi only gave us a small bow and nod whenever we talked with them. They keep the interaction to a minimal and acted politely. Well, I guess as polite as Yayoi could. Her speech is polite and effective, but not to the extent of making it cold. In fact, between the two, I could nominate her for the friendly type if not for her inability to make a proper expression. Unlike Furutaka, her expression was stiff and limited. Ah, but Furutaka herself is quite a cheerful girl. She joked and laughed with us but still maintain a proper limit. If I have to give an example, she is a proper office lady. It is not everyone's opinion. That is mine alone so that is not entirely correct for everyone.

And the last is…*sigh* why do I always have a slight headache when talking about her? *sigh* Okay, let's stop that for now. The last type is the shy and timid one. As anyone could guess, that leaves only one candidate for that type. Isomani, ugh! Dang it! Wrong again! Isonami! Isonami! Fuah!...Apology about that. No, she is not a bad girl. In fact, she might be the nicest of the five. Although….her shy personality is a problem. As for this one, the opinion is shared among the others. They can only see her as a fragile person that might cry at one simple misspoken word thrown at her. But in fact, there is only one thing that I observe will make her cry. And that is if one misspoke her own name. How can I be so sure of it?...Well, it's not exactly a million dollar question, right? Yes, yes, I will admit it. That is because I am the one that misspoke her name the most.

Regarding that, there is another story. It goes like this. I was going to get some lunch and found her together with Yayoi and Uzuki. With intention of make us closer, I sat together with them. At first, everything was going smoothly. I chat with them, joked with them, and even heard several requests from them about their equipment, which I wrote in my note for future reference. But disaster strike when I was going to ask Iso…nami! Ah, finally! I was going to ask her about her reference and I…misspoken her name. Again. She was startled and started tearing up. Uzuki, as the most cheerful of the trio, started to cheer her up. Yayoi, on the other hand, just sat there not knowing what to do. Uzuki then apologize to me and then brought the other two away from me. I swear I had banged my head on the desk several times while cursing my own mistakes, not caring about the other's stare at me. Why am I that bad in remembering someone's name!? Ugh…I really…really…really have to apologize to her. Maybe I will buy her some present in my next free time, which only God know when that is. Ugh…Remembering that story really made me feel all guilty again. Thankfully, none of the girls blame me for that. Or…at least not in front of me.

Oh yes, almost forgot to tell. The Admiral was suuuuper happy and excited after analyzing the girls' performance. He praised each and every one of them. But he also said that while their main mission is resource collecting, the danger might escalate more and more with each day. Together with the fact that our force is anything but sufficient at the moment, any kind of injury that might render the girls unable to do a sortie in a full force is not something we can afford. He mentioned that the constant delivery of supply will only be done less and less frequent in the future since the priority of the headquarter is not small outpost like us, but front line fortresses that have small to no chance at all to do any kind of independent resource gathering. For that, we need to have a steady stream of supply. And having one of the girls out of commission will endanger the rest of the crew when they make a sortie. Although the girls looked a bit disappointed at that, they realized that what he said is very correct. In according to that statement of his, there are two decisions. The first one is for my crew and the fairies to prioritize weapon research and manufacture to give the girls better equipment. I accepted that right away since we were already planning of doing that tomorrow. The second one is that the girls will train themselves as much as they can in their free time. But he also said to them to not overwork themselves. Admiral, do you realize that you are also in the same position?

I guess that's all for now. I still need to organize the report and the order so that we can quickly reach our target. This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

*click*-


	3. Day 3

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – "Training Schedule"**

Today is Thursday, 6th of August 20XX. This is the third record of my report.

Yesterday I didn't make a record since the work lasted all night long and I have only been able to get some rest right in the middle of the night. I decided to skip making a record and went straight to sleep seeing that I still have to wake up early tomorrow, err, today, since this record is being made in that day. Although, I have to say first that there isn't much to report for the past two days.

First, I will report the result of our work that went through night. We successfully built new armaments that the girls could use in battle. Our priority was building armament for the destroyer girls since there are more of them. But we still developed a few stuff for light cruiser and the heavy cruiser girls, Kiso and Furutaka.

For the destroyer girls we made some 61cm Triple Torpedo Mounts to enhance their offensive ability. We also developed some Type 13 Air Radars to give them more accuracy in battle and also more anti-air capability.

While for the cruiser girls we developed a couple of 12.7cm Twin High-Angle Gun Mount for their main gun and a pair of 61cm Quadruple Torpedo Mounts, one for the normal torpedo whiles the other for oxygen torpedo.

We also manufacture a lot, and I mean a lot of ammunition. Crates after crates of them now sit in the warehouse, ready to be used. Thankfully, the fairies have been able to give us schema and blueprint that helped us create ammunition efficiently without cutting any corner. They really are a helpful bunch. I will certainly give them a lot of reward later. But…what will they accept? Drink? Food? I hope the Admiral knows that.

Ah, I also have to explain that the cause of the long work hour is not because of how difficult the task was. It was because the whole crew, I also included, felt a bit…too excited. It was a feeling similar to a kid that was bought a new toy by their parent. Just like that kid that want to play the toy all day long without caring for anything, we were also too excited in creating and making equipment. It was only at the realization that we have almost depleted the whole supply inside the warehouse that we finally stop for the day. If not….well…I doubt I can record this report today. I guess there is an advantage of having a limited supply at hand. I have reflected on this and will try to control my crew's excitement better in the future. Err…mine too. I am also at fault. So, yeah, I will control it better in the future too.

Following my report about equipment production, I will also report the girls' training. I know that this is actually not in my jurisdiction as a Chief Engineer. But since we ended up asking them to test the equipment right away, I managed to oversee their whole practice today. I am quite satisfied when I saw the girls' excited expression when I came with two of my crews that brought a trolley filled with their new equipment, with the exception of Yayoi of course. Although I said that, she still showed sparkling eyes whenever she took a glance at the equipment. Quite an interesting girl she is. Oh, I also have to add the Admiral to the excited group since he was clearly elated when seeing me arrived with the stuff. In fact, I could even say that inside that calm expression of his, he was about to burst with excitement. Thankfully, he was able to control himself in front of the girls. Good job, Admiral.

After the girls took each of the new armament and equipment, they Admiral quickly asked each of them to take a test run one by one on the nearby course. Of course, it was prepared by my crew yesterday morning. And judging from the slight wear and tear on it, the girls had been using them yesterday. Ah, that reminds me that I haven't asked them about their opinion on the course. I'll ask them and the Admiral tomorrow after I brief my crew and the fairies. Although, I doubt that it has been satisfactory since the course itself was built rather rushed.

Both the cruiser girls showed almost no trouble at all while using their new equipment. Their accuracy was very high. For each ten shots, eight of the managed to hit the target. The other two shots were not that far from the target. Both of them wore an excited expression when using it and showed almost no added fatigue. We concluded that their compatibility with their new equipment is satisfactory.

For the destroyer girls…well…The result varied. Let's start with Yayoi. She had, uhm…difficulties when using the new armament. For testing purpose, we asked her to take the course with her default equipment and then switched her equipment with the new ones. Ah, I forgot to mention that we did the same with the other too. Apology for not mentioning it first.

Getting back to Yayoi, we found that her result when using the old equipment is quite good. Seven out of ten shots hit the target. After switching her equipment, however, the result reversed. Out of ten shots, only three managed to land on the target. Although we also counted about three that landed quite near the target, we still counted them at a miss.

Next is the pyon pyon girl, Uzuki. Her result was average. Totally, totally average in every meaning possible. While using the old equipment, five out of ten shots hit the target. After using the new equipment, the result stayed the same. Five out five. Her accuracy is fifty percent, average. Not too high, not too low. I mean, how average can you get? Her performance, at least on the testing course, was absolutely average.

Now, here's the surprising one. The last destroyer that run the course today was Isoma–ARRGGGHHH! Wrong! I-so-na-mi! Isonami! Ugh…good grief…Please…give me a second…Ahhh…I know that I have difficulties in remembering people's name, but…to failed so much. Really now? I wonder why? Was it because that girl is just, hmm…I don't know…lacked of any kind of impact? I know that I'm rude to her but…she really have no impact…err…her clothes? Normal. Her hair?...Normal. Her speech? Polite, yet…normal. Ugh, so she really does have no particularly unique trait? Really? This is…interesting. I will talk with the other some other time.

Well, despites that…rather hmm…, I don't know how anyone will view that for that matter. So…let's just stay with that lacked of unique trait, Iso…she–let's use that for the mean time– has quite an amazing performance. Old equipment test result displayed that she can shoot a perfect shoot five out ten, which is average. But after using the new equipment, she has managed to land a consecutive of eight perfect shoots. What a performance! Even the cruiser girls couldn't perform a consecutive shoot like that! Unfortunately, she lost her momentum on the last two and missed all of them, although only by a short distance.

Overall, the girls' performance showed a rather interesting result. Combining that with the new radars, which we couldn't test due to the limited time, we hope that it will help the girls to do their job better and, most of all, safer. As of now, the girls has sortied on yet another expedition and expected to return tomorrow morning like usual.

Due to the dwindling resource, we decided to start planning our next base upgrade instead of research or equipment manufacturing. After a discussion with the Admiral, it is decided that we will build a bigger dock for the girls. I said dock but it is actually a bathhouse. As weird as it sounded, it is the truth. Due to the nature of the girl –which I also have limited knowledge of– they can…hmm, what's the best word? Hmm…recover? Yeah, I guess that's fine. The girl can recover much faster than a normal human being. But for that to happen, besides having enough nourishment that consisted of normal human food with added metal and fuel–once again, I'm as confused as the next person about this–, they also need to be in a bath full of mineral. Due to that reason, a bathhouse is an essential part of every base that employed fleet girls. Just like my previous statement, our base already has a bathhouse. But it is too small since it was built rather rushed. So we planned to extend the bathhouse so that at least six fleet girls could use it at the same time. We will also enlarge the mineral tank and replace the pump so that it can give a much better circulation of mineral in the bath water. Oh, we are also going to build a man's section since we also like to have a good bath. Well, who wouldn't, right? But unlike the girls' bath, it will only consist of a simple bathtub without any mineral tank and pump since it will just be a waste of resource if we implemented it. After that, we also want to extend the dormitory since more fleet girls will be expected to join the base in the future.

Ah, I have also discussed it with the fairies and they all have agreed with our plan. And to my surprise, they said that the time of construction will be lessened dramatically since it will be just an extension instead of building a new one. They also said that it will only be a matter of days since the construction material is more than enough for those two plans. I'm quite pleased to hear that.

After I brought the news to the Admiral, he shared my opinion. I also asked him to order some more construction material from the HQ since we might need more than we expected. He agreed but he couldn't give me any promises, which I understood very well. As I mentioned before, we are not a frontline base. Only an outpost that is responsible for collecting resource that we will eventually send to the other base after we have reached a certain quota. Because of that, the HQ will prioritize the other base, primarily the frontline ones, instead of us.

I also asked him about the kind of fleet girl that will be sent here. According to the information, we will have quite a lot. That is a good news and bad news at the same time. A good news since it means that our base force will be strengthened, although to how much it will be I have no information about it. Stronger force and larger number will make it more possible to do sortie more often in the future. More sorties mean more resource for the base which also leads to better equipment and armament for the whole fleet.

And now…for the bad ones. With more fleet girls, we will need to spend more resource for each sortie and maintenance. And from what I heard from the Admiral, fleet girl that have the class of battleship and carrier will use up a lot more resource. And I mean, A LOT! Ugh, I remembered having a headache the moment he mentioned the estimated number to me. As the one in charge of the warehouse, I have a very bad feeling about it. And there is also another thing that will probably be a troublesome thing in the future. With the addition of more fleet girls, the HQ will probably demand more supply to be delivered from our base. To make matter worse, if that day comes, then we will also have almost no supply delivered to us and we will have to be completely independent. Ugh…that will come sooner or later, whether we like it or not, because it is what the HQ primary intention when building this base. In the first place, this base is not build as a frontline, but as either a supply cache or a supply collection point. At least, we still have some time until that will happen as the number of supply this base has collected is far from adequate. Although, the HQ might have different opinion for that matter.

Well, either way, our primary mission will still be concentrated in collecting resource. I actually can't say if the girls will perform well again for their second sortie. All I can do is hope for the best. For now, that is all of the report I can give. This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

*click*-


	4. Day 3 SS

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 3.5 – "2nd Sortie"**

The sound of engine and waves filled the place where a group of five girls were cruising across the water. Each of them could be seen carrying either a metallic barrel or a wooden crate. Both the barrels and the crates seemed to have seen better days judging from the amount of rust and scratches. But despite their appearance, they still managed to hold the content inside it quite safely and securely. While the girls cruised on the sea, their load swayed a bit but not a single drop came out of the barrel and only the sound of clanking metal could be heard from the inside of the crates without any sign of something coming out of the crate.

"Ne, Isonami-chan."

"Hmm? What is it, Uzuki-chan?"

"You're sighing a lot-pyon."

"E-Eh?" Hearing that comment all of a sudden flustered the girl with the braided hair. "R-Really?"

"Yeah-pyon." A nodded complimented the pink haired girl. "Isn't that right, Yayoi-chan?"

"…Yes…" A small voice came out her sister ship that still wore her usual cold expression.

"See?" Uzuki then cruised closer to Isonami. "What's the matter-pyon?"

"Err…Nothing." She gave a forced smile. "Really. I'm fine."

"Huh? No one's will let out a sigh so often unless they are tired or frustrated-pyon." She tilted her head. Then a smirk crawled onto her face. Isonami instinctively slowed down to distance herself from the girl that has a mischievous looks on her face. "Oh…it's because of that guy-pyon."

"E-Eh?"

"Ah, I'm right-pyon!" She let out a small laugh after seeing her friend made a troubled expression.

"That guy?" The voice of Yayoi came into the conversation as she also sailed closer to the two. "You mean Miyazo-san?"

"Yup!" Uzuki nodded again after hearing her sister ship's answer. "The one that made Isonami-chan cry-pyon."

"Waaa!" Isonami shout could be heard throughout the ocean. "H-He d-didn't! And I didn't c-cry!"

"What's the matter!?" A shout came from the front and the figure of a girl cladded in a white sailor uniform approached them with a visible worry on her face. "The Abyssal is here?"

"No, no, no-pyon!" Uzuki quickly shouted to clear the misunderstanding from her. "Everything is fine, Kiso-san."

"We were just chatting with Isonami-chan." The expressionless Yayoi backed her up in her effort to convince her.

"Huh? Is that so? Fine then. Oh?" While still holding the barrel on her shoulder, Kiso looked at Isonami. "What's the matter, Isonami-chan? You tired or something?"

"E-Eh? No, I'm fine, Kiso-san."

"Then why the blushing? The sun too hot for you? Or the crate too heavy?" Being barraged by questions from the eye-patch wearing cruiser made her blushed even further. "Spit it out, girl. There's nothing to gain by acting tough, ya' know?" Despite the crude and slightly harsh words, the trio noticed very well the caring and worried feeling oozing from her words.

"It's not–"

"Isonami-chan is frustrated about Miyazo-san."

"Y-Yayoi-chan!" Not expected that the purple haired girl will blurted out that without hesitation startled Isonami-chan. Even Uzuki seemed somewhat surprised. But unlike Isonami, that action of hers made her smiled mischievously and decided to 'assist' her.

"She's worried that she cried in front of him-pyon."

"U-Uzuki-chan! I d-didn't cry!"

"Really now, Isonami-chan? You're not fooling anyone there, kid." She immediately shut her mouth after being told like that. No matter what she said, the fact that she cried remains. "Hmm, what's the cause anyway? I didn't quite remember."

"…My…name…"

"Huh? What's that?" Kiso sailed closer to her as she couldn't hear her voice.

"My name…he…"

"Oh, he forgot your name?" A chuckle escaped her mouth. But then a frown from Isonami stopped her. "Err, sorry 'bout that. But don't worry, kid. Not remembering a new face's name is all normal, ya' know?" She then patted her shoulder with her free hand. "Give him more time, kid."

"But…he remembered everyone's name right away." Slightly pouting her mouth, Isonami tried to give a reason for her frustration.

"Isonami-chan is just too plain."

"Ugh!"

"Hard to remember."

"Argh!"

"Low presence."

"Ugh!"

"And also–Umf!"

"Stop!" Yayoi quickly covered Uzuki's mouth, preventing her from talking any further. "Any more and Isonami-chan will sink-pyon!"

The three fleet girls then looked at their friend who was, in fact, close to cry judging from her moist eyes.

"…Uuu…Yayoi-chan, are you…angry at me?" The girl in question shook her head. "…So…" Yayoi the pointed at her mouth and Uzuki released her hand.

"The truth."

"Gah!" Hearing her friend answered her without a trace of hesitation in her eyes stabbed her feeling much more than she expected. With a hunched back, she truly regretted asking her. "…Low presence…"

Seeing Isonami depressed like that, Uzuki nudged her friend's side, scolding her for being too blunt with her words. Kiso could only scratch he head, not knowing what else to do.

"What's the matter, everyone?" A sudden sound made the three shifted their gaze toward the source. "We're going to be late if we slowed down too much."

"Oh, Furutaka-san. Sorry for that." Kiso looked at the newcomer. "We're just chatting a bit."

"Well, that's good and all, but we really should get back quickly. And…Isonami-chan? Are you okay?"

"…Hard to remember…too plain…" Instead of a proper answer, only broken muttering came out of the girl. This made Furutaka raised one of her eyebrows. She then looked at the other and only found Uzuki letting a wry laugh while Kiso could only frown slightly. Yayoi, as she expected, still wore her usual expression. This just made Furutaka confused even further.

"You see, Furutaka-san, she is a bit…concerned that only her name was not remembered by Miyazo-san."

"Huh? Miyazo-san as in…the Chief Engineer, right?" Kiso nodded at her question. "Oh, yeah…he did forget her name….Several times."

"Ugh!" Hearing even the cruiser girl agreeing, Isonami felt another stab in her heart. "Uuuu…I'm….really easy to…forget…uuuuu…" She then started to sniffle.

"Aaah! I-I'm sorry!" Furutaka quickly get closer to her and tried to calm her down. The other just looked at her with expression that said 'ah, now you've done it' in silent, not wanting to complicated the matter further. "C-Cheer up, Isonami-chan! It's normal to forget one's name if you only meet the person a couple of times."

"…*sniff*…really?"

"Really! So cheer up, ok–"

"But he remembered all of ours just fine."

"UWAAAAAAAA!"

"Yayoi-chan!" Uzuki yelled at her friend which made the cruiser girl's effort to calm Isonami down gone to drain in an instance.

* * *

"So we're going to build this here and after that we planned to do extension next."

"Hmm…Understood. Then how about the supply for the project?"

"The supply, right? For now, well, it is quite fine, but we need more if we want to increase the base and also our arsenal. Especially at the time we received more fleet girls. At that, we need more. A lot more, Admiral."

"So in the end, our problem will still be about the supply, right?"

"Well, this is a base especially built for supply collection. That is very understandable."

"Right, right. Ah, man!" The Admiral leaned back onto his sofa after saying that and looked onto the ceiling of his office. He massaged his temple to ease up his headache. "Thankfully, the girl has performed marvelously. Isn't that right, Kuma-san?"

"Hmm, although it was only their first expedition, the amount of supply they brought was quite a lot." Kuma tapped his chin as he remembered the amount of supply from the girls' first sortie. "But then again…that is far from enough." He said to the Admiral with a slightly dejected tone.

"…You're right, Kuma-san." He then returned to his sitting position to look at his Chief Engineer again. "Let's put that aside for now. It's not that I don't want to think about it, but I think it is much better to return to that after we've seen their result a couple more times."

"Agreed, Admiral." Kuma nodded at his superior's suggestion. "We should focus on other matter first."

"We should, right? Ah, by the way, Kuma-san."

"Hmm? What is it, Admiral?"

"I've heard you've made Isonami-chan cried again." Kuma was startled by that sudden question and failed at hiding his feeling. "Well…I can say that it is confirmed."

"Ugh…forgive me for asking this, Admiral. But did you hear it from…the girls?" He nodded at his question. "Ah, I knew it. Well, for starter, I have to confess that I am to blame for that." He hung his head after saying that.

"Yeah, I heard their story. But it wasn't anything major from what I heard from them. Kuma-san. They didn't exactly blame you." The Admiral looked at him with his hand crossed. "You have difficulty in remembering name?"

"Err, although that is embarrassing," he scratched the back of his head while wearing a rather wry smile and then continued, "yes, it's correct, Admiral."

"But then again, you managed to call the others just fine, right? I mean, you managed to call their name right away when we were on the training course earlier today."

"Hmm... now that you said it, I guess that is because I associate each of them to one of more things."

"Such as?"

"Err…could you please not tell the girls about this?"

"My lips are seal and I will hold it to my death if I must."

"Well…let's start." Kuma cleared his throat before starting. "The expressionless girl, Yayoi. Pyon pyon girl, Uzuki. Eyepatch girl, Kiso. Two eye color girl, Furutaka."

"….Uwah…" The admiral couldn't help but let out a rather astonished voice. "When you said it like that…ugh…I can't help but agree with you. So, the reason you find it hard to remember Isonami's name is because…"

"…She…hardly has any memorable or unique trait."

"Too normal."

"Lack of presence."

"Too plain."

"…" The two went silence after each threw their opinion about that particular girl. They looked at each other and showed a rather troubled expression. The two then let out a sigh at the same time.

"So…I'm not the only one that thought like that, eh?" Kuma said to his superior with a slightly uncertain tone.

"Well…yeah…I suppose." While scratching his head, the Admiral couldn't help but agreeing with his Chief Engineer's opinion. "Now that you mention it, all of the girls possessed a unique trait, whether it is from their uniform or their own attitude. And that girl is…" The Admiral trailed off without finishing his sentence.

"She is…uhm…in the best word is…err…" Kuma scratched his head as he tried to look for the word that will able to accommodate the situation. "…Why can't I get to anything but the word 'normal'?" A wry laugh came out of the Admiral's mouth.

"Because that is the one that fit her best, Kuma-san." Hearing that, Kuma joined his superior in letting out a laugh. "Although being normal is nothing bad, but that does pose some trouble to you who remember a person by their unique trait."

"Forgive me, Admiral. That is indeed my weakness that I really need to overcome." A heavy sigh came from Kuma. "And I really need to solve it or I will risk hurting her."

"Take it easy there, Kuma-san. I'll try to help you too. I'll try to talk with the girls too."

"Thank you, Admiral." Kuma bowed his head to him slightly. "But she does show a great potential, doesn't she?"

"Oh, you mean about her result from the last test?" Kuma nodded. "She does, doesn't she? I have high hopes for her. Well not only her, but all the girls."

"So am I, Admiral. But then again," Kuma smirked, "she really is…normal."

"…Too normal." After that, the two couldn't help but let out a wry laugh at their own comment.

* * *

"Argh!" A sudden shout came from Isonami while they continued to get back into their base.

"W-What happened?" Uzuki who was near her shouted in surprise and quickly turned around with her turret ready to shoot. "Enemy attack-pyon?"

"N-No, it's just…"

"What is it, Isonami-chan?"

"I… just felt someone talking about me and…"

"And?"

"I felt a sudden stab in my heart…I think?" A mischievous grin appeared on Uzuki's face.

"Well…maybe it was Miyazo-san?"

"E-Eh? W-Why?"

"Maybe a complaint about you-pyon?"

"E-E-Eeeeh? Whyyyy?" Isonami asked Uzuki with teary eyes. But before she could say that she was joking, an answered came from somewhere near.

"Too normal. Hard to remember. Too plain."

"UWAAAAAAAA!"

"Yayoi-chan!"

"Sorry." Although Yayoi said sorry after Uzuki's reprimand, her expression showed anything but that. At that, Isonami cry could only be worsen as they sailed back to their base.


	5. Day 4

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – "Party Preparation"**

Today is Friday, 7th of August 20XX. This is the fourth record of my report.

Well…let's start that today is quite…strange? Ah, not a good way to start my recording. Anyway, let's just move on to today's main report.

The dock is half-done. If there is no change in our plan, we can open it tomorrow morning. And that also include the men's bath too! Hurray for that! Ah, the crew has already planned a small celebration for tomorrow. And since it will be weekend tomorrow, it will be a very good way to celebrate. I can't wait for that too! Oh yeah, if you think I'm excited, you can't imagine how excited the Admiral is. The moment I gave my report about the progress of the construction, he was visibly trembling. Thankfully, the girls were nowhere near us that time. But rest assured, I managed to calm him down right away. I began to suspect the HQ purposely sent me here not only to be the in charge of the mechanics, but also for calming him down in case he has his…moments.

The Admiral wanted me to keep this news from the girls a secret. He said he wanted to make a surprise party since he said that he didn't give them a welcoming party. After he said that, I realized that it is true that we didn't hold any. In my defense, we were very busy at that moment. So it is understandable that we didn't hold anything for them. I guess together with the opening of the new dock, we can make the small celebration into a bigger one, right? Ah, I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

Due to that decision, I have sent half of my crew to the nearby town to get some…party material. Actually, I want to go there myself since I need to buy something…Ah, who am I kidding? I want to go the town to have fun a bit too. Being in the base all day long made that a very tempting offer for me. But as their leader, I have to stay there in the base…Okay! I lost the draw! Argh! Damn it! And just when we have formal permission from the Admiral to go into the town! Ugh, damn it! …Well, the bright side is that I have given them a list of what to buy. And I have slipped a few items that I need to buy too, hehehe…Ah, I also asked them to buy a bit more booze and light snack since I want to give thanks to the fairies for their majorly hard work. I hope they like it. If not, well…I need to ask someone. And…who will that be, I wonder? I the Admiral doesn't know then I will probably have to ask the girls.

We also have received some more building material. This is a welcome news that every single personnel in the base felt giddy with excitement to what the base will be after the whole renovation plan is finished. I, on the other hand, felt less excited about that then the other. The reason? Well, for me, this is a sign that the HQ wants us to become independent as quickly as we could. It is like an implicit order of 'Get your base built up and quickly produce a lot of material so that we can fight easier' to us. I did bring this up with the Admiral and he only showed me a wry smile. It seems that he agreed with my opinion but he asked me to keep this opinion strictly between the two of us since dousing the excitement of the base's personnel will not give us anything in the future. I agree with him. We'll let them be as excited as they could for the moment and work as hard as they want. They will face much larger work load in the near future. Ugh…I felt a slight headache just thinking about it.

Okay, so that's the report about the base development progress. I will now report about the girls. Just like the last sortie, they have done a marvelous job out there. Although each girl only managed to bring either a crate or a barrel each, it was more than enough for our current condition. I remembered that almost all of my crew shed tears the moment they laid their eyes on the supplies the girls brought. I also shed some tears too. The girls were taken aback at our reaction and they all smiled and laughed at our exaggerated reaction. But…I'm sorry girls. Those guys were probably cried due to being able to continue their job, which is experimenting and crafting equipment, not exactly because of being touched by your hard work or anything. Although a part of it was due to that, but the biggest part of it was due to their excitement for able to develop crazier stuff. Sorry for that, girls. But rest assured all of us here really respect you for the hard work you've done every single day. I can at least assure you that.

Right after their arrival, I joined them to meet the Admiral since I want to hear the result of using the new equipment from the other day. I chat lightly with them and I noticed that Isonami's eyes were slightly swollen. Is that because of the battle? I also remembered that her eyes seemed to be redder than usual. I looked at her and smile lightly at her, realizing that this girl is really a hard working one. I called her, without miscalling her name this time, and then told her whether she worked herself too hard. She was too surprised to give me a proper answer. Instead she just shook her head. I then tapped her shoulder and told her to not overwork herself. Not that I think about it, why was she so surprised at that time? Was it because I suddenly asked her that? Or maybe because I have been able to pronounce her name correct that time? Maybe the later part, eh?

But then again, it has become much easier for me to remember her name. Why, you might ask? There are two main reasons for that. First is because I have been calling her the wrong name too much and her reaction has left an impression for me. So in the end, the girl that has a weak presence has become her identity for me. If she hears that, she would definitely cry a lot harder than before. Sorry about that, Isonami.

The second one is probably something that she will be happy to hear compared to the previous one. In my mind, that girl has become one that showed the most promise among the others. I could sense determination and resolution in her eyes. Her result has been more than I could ever hope for. Although the other also showed more than enough result for their hard work, in my opinion Isonami has shown an outstanding result. That made me happy as the one that develop her equipment. To have your work being used to the maximum potential is an honor every craftsman would love to have. I think for that aspect I could speak the same for my own crew. They are also happy to see that their hard work has been used to such a potential.

At the Admiral's office, we heard the report of their recent expedition and found out that the pattern of the Abyssal Fleet has slightly changed. They have encounter more on place that was thought to have a low chance of encounter while they have also encounter less than expected from the place where it was thought to have a higher chance of encounter. If that was the only case, then it is simple, right? We just have to swap their patrol route. But, unfortunately, that is not the case. The Admiral gave news that on other sector, they have found the opposite of their report. The area that has low chance of encounter has become absolutely empty while the area that has high chance of encounter has become much more dangerous than before. Their pattern has turned completely erratic and random, making it much more difficult than before to plan an effective route for any kind of sortie.

Hearing those news, the girls expression, as anyone could predicted, turned to a sour one. Especially Kiso's. Her concern was shown so visibly on her face without any sign of her trying to hide it. After seeing that, I decided to ask them to calm down and don't be frustrated by that alone. A soldier in war should not be so easily swayed by a sudden change in the course of war, no matter how big the change is. I also said to them that a soldier in war should never underestimate a slight change in the course of war. Never underestimate, but also never overestimate. That is the rule that I always carve into my own heart. I also used that in my other problem. It is quite a good way of thinking, don't you think so? Wonder who told me that? My mentor? My father? Or maybe an old friend of mine?...Hmm…I don't quite remember. Well, I'll probably remember it sooner or later.

Where was I?...Oh, yeah, the girls! So, yeah, the girls listened to my…speech? You could say that. They heard it and they seemed to agree with me. Or maybe they disagree with me but just don't want to tell me? I could never know if that really is the case, now do I? The point is, I have told them what I think and I want them to not be caught by their own frustration by the current situation. The last thing we need in this time of crisis is a panic mind. Panic will not do you any good except endangering yourself and the one around you. Believe me. I don't just know that phrase. I experienced it. For the better or worst of it.

Thankfully, the Admiral agreed with my opinion as he also asked us to be vigilant but not to strain ourselves too much. We can't lose any of our limited personnel at the moment. Each and every one of us really needs to take care of our own since the one that know our own limit is no one but ourselves. So…with that last order from the Admiral, I ask everyone's report for their equipment. The general opinion is that they all find it useful, but still need some time to accustom themselves to the new equipment. I nodded at them while taking a few notes here and there.

Everything was going smoothly. But when it was Isonami's turn to give report, it took her some time to talk. She was just staring at me without saying anything. Am I…really that hated by her? Ugh…I am guilty for that, I guess? Yes, yes! I confess that I only have myself to blame for that. I guess I reallllly have to buy her a gift for hurting her feeling. She finally gave her report only after being nudged by Uzuki. And to my surprise, she gave a very detailed report that I asked her several times to wait for me to write down what she said. She really is a promising one, isn't she? After that, I couldn't even joke around that she has no presence. But then again…yeah, she still has low presence. No matter how I think about it, she has very little feeling of presence. Maybe it is because her way of carrying herself? With that timid and shy personality, that is very understandable. Hmm…that really makes me want to see her fight by my own eyes. Maybe behind that meek and timid mask of hers lies a very fierce fighting machine. Wow…that is cool and frightening at the same time.

I guess that is all for today's report. Oh yeah, in the end the Admiral never did mention anything about the party, eh? But he did ask them to take a day off tomorrow. Maybe it was his way of asking them to take a breather? But then again, I saw him scheduling some rather fierce practice menu for them. Oh well, I guess it will a surprise for them. Okay, I have to organize the report since the crew has already pestering me about developing new equipment. I will need them to read the report first so we can determine what we want to develop next. This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

*click*-


	6. Day 5

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - "Party Ongoing"**

Today is–urgh– sorry about that. Uhm, yes, today is Saturday, 8th of August 20XX. This is the –urgh–, fifth record of my report. Urgh…Sorry about that. Please give me a moment.

*click*-

Ah! Much better! Sorry about that. I was feeling…slightly under the weather. The reason? Well, the party that has been going until the middle of the night. Yeah, you heard it right. The time I'm recording this is almost Sunday. I know…it is late. But I really need to keep the record going. Especially since today's report will be somewhat…hectic and unusually interesting…Well, at least in my opinion it is interesting.

So…let's start with the usual report. The base has been steadily improving. We have finished expanding the dock–or bathhouse– right on schedule. With that, we can move onto the next plan, which is expanding the dormitory. Oh, we also planned to expand the mess hall together with the dormitory since we will probably need to cater much more personnel as the base grows. If all is going according to plan, we will probably finish all of that in a week. Quite fast, right? That is all thanks to the fairy. They have done a tremendously magnificent job every single day. I don't know what kind of magic or technology they were using, they were able to complete their job much faster than all of us combine can do. I am absolutely baffled by their existence. All in all, they really reminded me of…hmmm…what do they call it? Brownie? You know, those small creatures that like to help people. It's…uhm…English folklore? I think that is the story, right? Hmm…I'll look it up again later.

So, yeah, the plan is on a good track. We even managed to develop a few more equipment for the girls.

Some more radars and torpedoes in case they need some more. But this time, we focused more on the ammunition since we noticed that they used quite an amount. Well, not a lot that our stock will be depleted. But still in quite a fast rate. Because of that, we manufactured a lot more. And, this is the good news, since we focused more on manufacturing ammunition, we managed to keep the amount of supply used rather well….I hope. I'll…look it up again next time.

Okay, so that's the base's report, the development report…now what else? Hmm…Oh, it seems that our plan for expanding the dormitory is a very good decision since we will also receive some more fleet girls next week. I don't really know when the Admiral told me that. I guess…hmmm…probably this morning. It's not exactly a formal notice since he only mentioned it slightly when we discuss about my report. So…I don't really have any concrete information. All I know that we will have some more reinforcement. That's all I know.

Next I will talk about the welcoming party. Oh, man! That was some party, I can tell you that. There's a lot I need to talk about, but I'll try to be as accurate as possible while also as brief as possible. Let's start with what we had at that party. Since we still need to work the next day, we limited the alcohol consumption very, very strictly. Due to that, I ask my crew to store most of the stuff in the warehouse and only bring a handful of them. Thankfully, the crew didn't let out too many complaints at that. For the snacks, we asked the mess crew to cook something light that will go nicely for a drink or two in addition with some snack they bought along the way.

At first, we didn't tell the girls since the Admiral reaaaally want to surprise them. I have to say that I didn't expect this kind of thinking from him. It made me feel quite refreshed, you know? I guess it is my personal opinion, but having a superior that know how to cut loose and have fun from time to time is a very nice thing to have. Following his order, we keep it from the girls until we were told to tell them. You don't know how hard it is to keep the party from the girls. They all have sharp intuition and even at one point ask us directly. I'm really proud that the guy that managed to stay quiet even after being blatantly questioned like that was one of my guys. You deserve a good drink, my friend! After that incident, we then decided to keep working on the equipment and ammunition by ourselves, locking us away from them.

At the designated time, both I and the Admiral meet the girls to ask them to see the new dock. They were very happy and showed no sign of trying to hide their excitement. At that, I realized that they really still are young girls that could laugh and giggled at something like this. Honestly, I felt quite relieved since no matter what everyone say about them, in front of me I couldn't see them as anything but young girls that are forced to go into war because we, the adults, were powerless….I think they might feel insulted that I thought that way about them. It's just that...I felt that we robbed them of their colorful youthful days for something so…so…grim and…dangerous. It really made me feels bad for them…Sorry, let's just…move on, shall we?

So where were we again? Oh, yes! The girls were asked by the Admiral to see the newly expanded dock. I, as the one in charge of construction, am also there to guide them. They were all smiling and looking very excited to see the place. Seeing them like that, I unconsciously let out a chuckle, which made Isonami stared at me. I asked her what's the matter but she just shook her head. I seem to be…hated by her, right? Well, I deserve that. I guess I just have to try to get along with her slowly….I hope she will forgive me.

Thankfully, the only one who noticed my sudden laugh was Isonami. That means the plan is still secured. When we arrived at the dock, the first one to notice something strange was Furutaka. She asked us why the place is so silent. Hearing that, the Admiral winked at me and I take that as my cue to proceed with the plan. I then opened the big door that leads into the dock and popping sounds came out from the inside. That really surprised the girls as the jumped backward right away. But the moment they looked at the confetti that was thrown on the air, they finally realized the situation.

The whole crew got out and congratulated them for being assigned here in the base. They even managed to make a simple banner for that. Really, I have to give those guys some credit for doing something like that with so little time available. I guess that's the reason they were chosen as the technician, eh? They all shouted with happy and excited voice while some of them shook the girls' hand. All I could see at that time was all smile and laugh.

The girls certainly didn't expect that from us but they were quite happy to see that we cared for them. The Admiral then apologized for not able to do that sooner due to the current task at hand. He also said that today will be the day that all of us can enjoy a slight break for a whole week of hard work. That, of course, was received very nicely by the whole base and a loud cheer erupted. The girls also joined them with happy expression of their own. Well…except Yayoi, of course. But I could see the glint of excitement in her eyes. Strange one she is.

And…this is where everything got…hectic. Apparently, not all the girls are able to take down their alcohol. Ah, booze. The stuff that made everyone and anyone turned happy… And strange…mostly strange. Yes, that's right, everyone. Strange. Let me…hmm…elaborate what happened to the girls.

First, let's start with the leader of the girls, Furutaka. She…how do I say it? Turned into a mumbling girl that kept drinking and munching the food without showing any sign of stopping. The usually quiet girl that showed a very professional attitude has turned into a girl that showed almost no restrain in term of drinking and eating. Some of us have even tried to stop her only to be glared at by her Heterochromia eyes. One of them even produced a bright light aimed at us whenever we tried to distance the food and drink. Thankfully, she dropped dead to a silent sleep when she had enough.

And next we have Kiso. The already loud and cheerful girl turned into a rowdy girl that chugged drink and grabbed snacks like there's no tomorrow. She laughed loudly and sang song while still holding a bottle or two on her hands. It was quite a contrast to Furutaka who become silent, right? She grabbed every nearby man and challenge them to arm wrestle with her, which you might expected resulted in a quite a lot of our men being beaten by her. Seeing her like that really reminded me of a pirate. You know? Booze, merry laughing, eyepatch. What more do you need?

For Uzuki…hehehe…she became a hyperactive rabbit. Hopping from one place to another. Laughing and saying "pyon pyon" all the way. Stealing a bite from everyone's food. I assure you, it was a chaos that no one really expected.

Fortunately, her sister ship, Yayoi managed to get her to stay. But…she herself had become stranger than usual. The usually quiet Yayoi has turned into a much more silent character. She sipped her drink without making a single sound. How is that even possible? And when Uzuki was running amok on us, she jumped and grabbed her and then dragged her by the collar. No matter how much Uzuki struggle and "pyon pyon" all the time, she kept her by the collar while still drinking her drink. When we tried to stop her from drinking, she just stares at us without saying anything. She then kept following the one that hold her drink without saying anything. The only way to stopped her from doing that is to give her drink back. It will not work if you give her a new glass. She really, really wants her drink back. It was quite scary experience. Thankfully, she also dropped dead like Furutaka rather quickly, with Uzuki still held by her quite strongly.

And…last…but not least…is Isonami. She…hugged me. Very…very strongly. Does she really hate me that much? It was as if she was trying to squeeze the life out of me. I called her name several times to ask her to release me only to make it harder than before. But…she loosened up her hold when I shouted in agony. After a few tries, I gave up in trying asking her to release her hold. Thankfully, her arms only managed to grab my waist. If she went onto my neck, I'll probably die. In that position, the crew snickered and giggle at me. I could no nothing except glare at them since her hold at me will be tightened when I tried to move too much. It was as if she was asking me to not move away from her…Now that I realized it, is that an act of hate? Or fondness?...So does she hate me or not? I…don't really know.

To sum it all up, it was a very chaotic disaster. But it was a fun disaster. We all relaxed and laugh together. Telling fun and crazy stories all the way while consuming what's left on the table. It was fun. Even the Admiral danced with some of the guys after Kiso asked them to do it as punishment of losing against her.

…Ugh, my head…Fun is fun, but…still. The headache after that is crazy. Thank goodness I have this hangover medicine from back home. I'll need to keep a spare of this later. And…I also need to be stricter with the amount of drink we get on each party like that. If not…the effect will be disastrous. Ugh…my head…I guess I'll sleep it off. This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

*click*-


	7. Day 6

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – "After Party"**

Today is Sunday, 9th of August 20XX. This is the sixth record of my report.

For starter, I have to say that this will not be a long report since the whole base has been…how do I say it? Uhm…Wasted…Out of commission…Totally wiped out. Pick what you like. Please do. The reason…well…booze, actually.

I also have to say that I'm recording this report in the evening since there isn't much work to be done. Not that we don't have any, but we can't do any. The amount of people available…err, I mean, sober people available, has left us unable to do anything productive. Most of the crew is either in their bunk, wasted, or staggering around the base like mindless zombies. Among those sober people is, as you expected, the Admiral and I myself. The Admiral, due to being able to hold his drink very, very, very well. And I, due to possessing a very powerful cure for my hangover. Really, that stuff is a miracle. I really need to stock up on it as soon as possible.

The only thing we could do was to put up the least minimum amount of guard and sentry to see if anything will attack this base. Besides that, there isn't a single thing the whole base has been able to do. As shameful as it may sound, I have to admit that this is inexcusable. This is condition that could not be permitted to be happened ever again. With that in mind, I will personally ask the Admiral to take control of the situation next time so that this will not happen again in the near future. Or maybe we will ban party altogether…No, that would be disastrous. A bow that is pulled all day long will snap, right? If the whole crew snaps…well…let's not think about it.

Oh yeah, when I mean the whole base, I mean the WHOLE BASE, as in, fleet girl included. In fact, they have the worse condition compared to the other one. I don't know why that is the case, but that is the case indeed.

Furutaka, the de facto leader of the girls, might be the one with the healthiest condition compared to the other. I last saw her sitting on the mess hall with a cup of water and a large pitcher of water next to it. In fact, I sat with her and chat with her for a while after finishing my breakfast. Her condition, although the healthiest, is far from you might call healthy. Her complexion is very pale that one might mistake her for a ghost. Her Heterochromia eyes –yes, I search for the condition of her eyes since it bugged me– showed dimmed shine ever so often. It was like a flickering light you could see from a nearly expired light bulb. Thankfully, she is still able to converse well considering her condition. I guess it was such a strange experience chatting against a girl with a flickering light bulb for eyes.

Although I didn't chat long with her, she did give me a lot of useful information. She said that the three destroyers –Yayoi, Uzuki, and Isonami– have the worst condition amongst the others. They have been in bed all day, writhing in pain while mumbling 'headache, sore throat, the pain' or something like that. I think I could picture that. She also said to me that she was going to bring them some food. But a sudden headache attacked her head. It was so painful for her that she almost fell forward. Thankfully, a few of the crew managed to help her avoid the worst situation and asked her to take a short break in the mess hall. They oven offered to bring the food in her stead, but she refused that politely since the girls might not like to be seen in that horrible condition. I have to say, Furutaka is a kind and considerate girl. The considerate flickering light bulb girl, hahaha!…Better not mention that in front of her. She might be sensitive about those eyes of her.

Now I've talked about Furutaka and the three destroyer girls, right? That leaves only one. And that very last one is none other the residence eye-patch wearing girl, Kiso. You see…it is quite an interesting story when I met her this morning. After chatting with Furutaka, I left first since she will stay there until the throbbing in her head subsided. At that time, I only intended to walk around the base to look at everyone's condition before reporting it to the Admiral. As I walked around the base, I noticed a figure walking toward the pier. It was limping around and walking with very unsteady steps, making me worried. The last thing we need at the moment is the news of accident inside the base. And I sure am not going to write the cause of the accident due to the overdrinking inside the base now, would I?

Driven by worry, I decided to approach the limping figure. When I got closer, I immediately notice the outfit and recognized that it was none other than Kiso herself. I shouted her name to get her attention. Oh, how would I regret doing that. You see, Kiso's destination is the pier. It is the edge of the pier, to be exact. And why is that? Well…she is heading there to let the content of her stomach out due to her headache and her sick stomach. Now you see the connection?...If not, let me tell you exactly what happened.

When Kiso heard me, I was already near her, only a few steps away from her. And due to the sudden movement she made to turn toward me, her stomach couldn't bear the pressure. And she immediately emptied the content of her stomach with me in her direction. Thankfully, I managed to dodge most of the flying barrage by jumping away. Sadly, I am not able to dodge all of it. Some still landed on the bottom side of my pants and also my shoes. Kiso immediately apologized to me but unable to complete her own sentence due to another torrent of stuff from her stomach started to move up. Seeing that, I yanked her away and pointed her toward the edge of the pier, saving both me and her from being the target of her own barrage. It took us about…how long was it? Uhm,…maybe about fifteen minutes before she calmed down. Man, that was something, all right. It's been a long time since someone puked on me. The last time I remember that was on one of my friend's bachelor party. Good time, good time…

Okay, if you think that's interesting, wait till you hear this. After that…ordeal of hers, she sat on the edge of the pier while I looked for the nearest water hoses to wash off the…damage. Luckily, it was not far so I got back to her real quickly. After I sat down next to her, I was amazed at how terrible her face was. Red bloodshot eyes, unkempt hair, which I might say was much more chaotic than her usual style, and also unfocused eyes. Uhm, eye, not eyes since the other one is covered. It was not difficult to say that her condition might rival the destroyers' already awful condition. Since I don't exactly know the condition of the girls, I can't really determine the real winner of that competition….Uhm, or is that the real loser? Nah,…victim. Yeah, that fitted the term real nicely.

When I asked her how she feels, she answered that she was like being attacked by a million tiny abyssal inside her own head while the submarine put a load of torpedoes inside her stomach. Mighty creative answer, don't you think? If she was that bad, that begged the question of why she was loitering around the base. And her answer to that question is…quite an expected one coming from her. She said that she doesn't want to be seen as weak fleet girl by the other. That's why from morning, she already…escaped out of her room. The only conversation she had was with Furutaka, saying that she will be fine and just need a little walk to clear her head. She feels the need to act strong in front of everybody. Just what I expected from the girl that has the reputation of being the base's younger brother.

After saying that, I remember her eye widened. It seems that she wasn't supposed to tell me her real reason. She then begged me not to tell anyone what she just said, especially to the little ones. That's so cute of her, hahaha! The sight of her asking me not to tell the others really made a strong impression for me. She grabbed my shirt and begged me to not tell anyone about it. Hahahaha! Oh, just for the record, I didn't tease her at all. I mean, she was already close to tears even without me teasing her. She seemed so sure that I will leak her secret that she even promised me to do anything in change for that. Well, I assure you, this record will be the only exception about my promise with her.

If you think about it, even without me telling anyone, it takes no genius to figures that her condition is anything but fine. As I said that, she became depressed. She really is an interesting character, right? I won't forget about her soon after that short conversation with her. Feeling pity at her, I offered her to take one of my hangover medicines. Since I don't know how fleet girls will react to it, I asked her to keep that a secret between us if she accepted that offer of mine. And, yes, she accepted that.

Thankfully, along our way to my office, we didn't encounter anyone. We quickly went into my office and she waited inside before I give her the medicine. After that, I told her to take a small nap in my office so that the medicine will take effect faster. Just after she took the medicine, she immediately dropped dead on one of the chair in my office, snoring if I may add. Now that I think about it, is the medicine that fast acting? Even I need an hour or so before it take effect.

So after a short time, she woke up even before I realized it. It was so quick that I wasn't even able to finish my report. She said that it was such a miracle cure that she felt much better than before. I'm happy to hear that but I advised her to take it easy for today so that tomorrow she can be at full health. With a smile so wide, she took my hand and thanked me for it. She then left my office while I finish my report that I will give to the Admiral.

After that time with Kiso, I went to give my report to the Admiral and a good news came from him. It is official that we will have some more fleet girls. He said that they will arrive tomorrow. Talk about fast action. I then discuss with him about their lodging and he just said that the number of new fleet girls will come in batches. For the first batches, we will receive no more than three to four at one time. After that, it will take more than a month or so before we will get new recruit. That is a relief, right? That just sealed our plan to expand the dormitory. He then asked about the base's condition. I let him know the bad news right away and his face darkened almost immediately. He felt that it was his mistake for not controlling them in the first place. I assure him that it's not his fault alone. I'm also included. At that, we decided that we will take a much tighter control on that particular subject so that the same thing will not happen again.

More or less, today has been an interesting day. And since the base is currently inactive, I have more time to sort the order and data. Oh yeah, speaking of time, I haven't seen the fairies. Are they drunk too? I hope not. Oh, look at the time. I can have a longer sleep today, hahaha! I really need one so that is another good news for me. I did promise this one to be short, but it seems that I talked a lot about Kiso since…well, it is an interesting story, right? I guess that is all. This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

*click*-


	8. Day 6 SS

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 6.5 – "Rest Day"**

"…Uuuu…"

"…My…head…."

"…pyon…"

A chorus of moans and groans filled a particular room of the fleet girl dormitory. On the bunk beds, the figure of the base's three destroyers could be seen, writhing around while holding their head with a pale and sick face.

"…I…don't remember…anything…" The one on the bottom left bunk said with a heavy and painful voice."

"…Isonami-chan…you…don't-pyon?"

"…I...think…no, I don't have any-urgh!" Her face paled even more as she tried to remember last night. "Ugh…this is bad…"

"…hurt…painful…" Yayoi's voice came from the bottom right bunk. "Head…stomach…painful."

"You are not alone-pyon…" From the upper one, Uzuki's voice replied her sister ship. "Shouldn't have drink that much…"

"Ne…Uzuki-chan, Yayoi-chan…" Isonami shifted her head while still lying. "Did I…drink too?"

"…Isonami-chan drink…A lot…"

"Agreed-pyon…"

"…Really?" She placed her hand on her head. "I…don't remember at all."

"…So…Isonami-chan doesn't remember doing…that?"

"Eh?" Yayoi's question piqued Isonami's interest. "That? What's that?"

"…Oh dear…"

"…You don't remember-pyon? Ugh, my head…"

"What did I do?" Isonami quickly pulled her upper body into a sitting position. "Gah…my head!" Only to drop to the bed again, defeated by her throbbing headache. "What…did I do?"

"…Should we tell you?"

"Err…isn't it best for her to forget about it-pyon?"

"What? What?" The tone of her two roommates made her have a feeling of curiosity mixed with worry. "Is it so bad?"

"Uhm…it's not bad-pyon…it's just…"

"Embarassing…"

"Ah, yes, that's it! That's–Urf!" Uzuki's word stopped midway as she tried to hold the content of her stomach that had travelled onto her throat. "Ugh…this is bad."

"Y-Yayoi-chan? Can you...t-tell me?"

"You sure?"

"W-Why? Why do I h-have to be sure before knowing that?" Isonami tried to rake her memory for anything. But tried as she might, nothing came into her. That fact combined with the way her two comrades talked had made her worry so much that she had even able to endured her pain. "Tell me, please…"

"Well…if Isonami-chan wants too. I guess I can–"

"How are ya'll doing, kiddos?" A loud voice entered the room together with the sound of the door loudly opened.

"Ugh…quiet…please…" Yayoi glared from her bed as she felt her headache returned.

"O-Oh, s-sorry, kid." Kiso let out an awkward voice as she looked at the casualties of last night's event. "So…not that well?"

"…Not that well…"

"Okay…Oh yeah, here's some water and some food if you want to." After saying that, she pulled up the plastic bag she was carrying. "Thank Furutaka. She's the one ordered the stuff for all of you."

"Ah…thank you Kiso-san." Isonami lifted her body upward and changed her position to a sitting one. Although it was still difficult, she was able to do it. "Where is Furutaka-san?"

"Hah? She's behind me," said Kiso while gesturing behind her. "Huh? She's not?" As she looked back, she realized that she was in fact alone.

"Kiso-san…don't tell me you left her somewhere?"

"N-No, I didn't!" She then exited the room after dropping the stuff on to the floor near Yayoi's bed. "Wait here a bit!"

"Ugh…to noisy…" After she left, Yayoi complained again. "So…Isonami-chan still wants to know?"

"I…do? I guess?"

"You're not sure."

"I mean I do want to know!" After shouting, her headache returned, making her swayed backward. "Ah…my head…"

"At that time, you–"

"Don't tell her-pyon." Uzuki who was quiet for some time stopped Yayoi from telling the story. "At least…wait until she is a bit healthier-pyon."

"…Okay."

"Eh? Was it that bad?" The tone of her two friends made her even more worried than before.

"…We'll tell you later-pyon."

"Yes…later." After that the two Mutsuki-class destroyers turned quiet. Their same action confused her even more. At that, she tried even more to rake her own memory.

"How is everyone?" A weak and soft voice came from the door. The three looked at the door and found the odd eyes Furutaka entering the room while the eyepatch wearing Kiso stood behind her.

"A bit better…"

"Headache…Stomachache…nauseous…"

"Same-pyon…"

"Err…sorry to hear that, girls." Furutaka then picked up the plastic bag that was left on the floor and put it onto the only table in the room. "I've got some sandwich and bottled water if you are hungry or thirsty. Please eat some so you can get better." After saying that, she proceeded to taking out the content of the bag and spread them out onto the table.

"Thank you, Furutaka-san." Isonami stood up and tried to reach for the water. "E-Eh?" But since she moved suddenly, the headache from before attacked her and made her balance went out of the way.

"W-Wow, easy there, kid."

"T-Thank you, Kiso-san." Kiso who was standing behind Furutaka managed to catch Isonami just in time.

"Take it easy, kid." After that, she helped Isonami back onto her bed. "it's that bad, eh?"

"…I'm sorry."

"Don't, kid." Kiso then grabbed one of the bottles and then gave it to her. "Drink this."

"Thank you, Kiso-san."

"Kiso-san, you look…completely fine, right?" Furutaka asked while she herself took one of the bottled water. "You have an amazing recovery."

"Hahaha, is that so?" A slight awkward laugh escaped her mouth as she said that. "Just..hehehe…"

"I myself still feel quite bad. But we have to do mission tomorrow."

"Well, the base is still understaffed, right? There's nothing we can do." Kiso then grabbed one of the sandwiches and unwrapped it. "That reminds me. You girls were talking about something before I came back, right? What was that?"

"…It's about Isonami-chan…"

"Huh? What about it?"

"The thing she did last night-pyon." Uzuki added. "Just don't tell her right–"

"Oh you mean about how she hugged Miyazo-san all night?"

The room suddenly went silence. The sound of Uzuki and Yayoi slapped their forehead was the only sound that could be heard.

"E-Eh? Did I say something wrong?"

"…Ugh…she did it."

"She did it-pyon…" The two regretted inside their heart for saying that out loud.

"Huh? Hey girls, did I say–Woah there, kid! You almost dropped your bottle there for a second!" After catching the bottle that Isonami dropped, Kiso looked at her and felt confused. "Kid? You…okay?"

"I…I…I…I..w-w-w-w-w-w-what?!" With her eyes hollow and blank, Isonami's stuttered her question. "W-what did I do!?"

"E-Eh?" Taken aback by her reaction, Kiso couldn't say it right away. "Err…F-Furutaka?"

"…You just said it, Kiso-san." A soft sigh escaped her mouth as she took the bottle and sat on a nearby chair. "You take responsibility."

"R-Responsibility? W-Why do you have to make it sound so scary?"

"Well…look at her." Furutaka said as she gestured at Isonami. "Judge it yourself. I have nothing to do with it. Besides," Furutaka leaned back her head so that it touched the wall behind her, "I still have a headache. You are fine enough to handle it yourself."

"K-Kiso-san!"

"W-Woah!" All of a sudden, Isonami leap from her bed and charged at Kiso. "W-What is it, kid?"

"T-Tell me! Tell me!" While clinging onto her uniform, she looked straight on to her eyes. "Did I h-h-h-h-h-h-"

"Hug Miyazo-san?" A nod came from Isonami. "Y-Yeah, you did, kid. All night long."

"…UUUWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"E-Eh!?" Being the target of her sudden wail startled Kiso. She looked around and found that no one care to assist her. While the two destroyers were covering their head with their pillow, Furutaka only looked at them with one of her eyes open, clearly expecting that to happen. "K-K-Kid?"

"I DID THAT!?" Confirming again, she grabbed Kiso's uniform with much more force than before, as if her previous weak self was nothing but an illusion. "I DID THAT!?"

"Y-Yeah. B-But calm down kid. It's not that bad."

"She hugged him…all night long…"

"UWAAAHHHH!"

"Y-Yayoi-chan!" Kiso shouted at her. "Don't say that!"

And after that, the whole dormitory was filled with Isonami's cry all night long. I took Kiso all her strength and wit to calm her down.


	9. Day 7

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 7 "New Recruits"**

This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo and today is Monday, 10th of August 20XX. This is the seventh record of my report.

Today I am pleased to report that we have several new Fleet Girls joining our base. There are three of them, to be exact. I heard that we will have more but they will come in small batch to make it easier for them to familiarize themselves with how things work in the base and also with their fellow fleet girls. That is a very good plan in my own opinion.

It seems that besides choosing the ones suitable for the base's main type of operation, the HQ also tried to match the fleet girl they send to the ones that are already in the base, personality-wise and history-wise. Because of that, it is no wonder that the three newcomers all have connection with the ones in our base. A very close connection.

Let's start with the first one. Hmm…on second thought let me see my cheat sheet first. I know that I'm bad with name, so I have prepared it before the recording. For your information, I was trying to start without using it, but…I'm just not confident. Let's see…The first Fleet Girl is Kako, the Second of the Furutaka Class Heavy Cruiser. Yes, she is Furutaka's sister ship. She even wore the same serafuku as Furutaka. A laidback girl with a pair of eyes that seemed to be always ready to drift into a deep sleep. Yes, she really does look like that. I even noticed that she has slightly dozed off in the middle of the first briefing, only to be nudged by her own sister ship. Really, she has a very different atmosphere to Furutaka that seems to take her job seriously.

And then, oh…I guess I only need the cheat sheet for the first one. The next two is absolutely easy for me to remember. The reason? Well, she has the same name as me. Yup, you got it. She is Kuma, the namesake ship of her class. Besides having the same name as me, she also has a rather catchy verbal tick. Kuma! Hehehe…Very interesting. Unlike Kiso who seems to tries her beast to act cool and dependable, she seems to be a girl that is brimming with energy and not ashamed to show it to the world. She was so energetic that it was so hard for me to believe she is Kiso's sister ship.

Next is still within the same class as her, the Second of the Kuma Class Light Cruiser, Tama. Just like her elder sister ship…wait…Can I even call her that? I mean, since she is the second one, so the older one is Kuma, right? The second is Tama and Kiso is the youngest one between the three, right? Uhm…is that even right? But…they looked similar in age term. I guess…I can say that. I hope I can. Let's ask them later. Where was I? Oh, yes! Just like her older sister, Kuma, she is a very energetic girl. Very energetic that her introduction, which although the last of the three, sounded very far from the least for that matter. While Kuma has a verbal tick of 'Kuma!', Tama has, if you guess 'Nya!', then you're right. I guess it is very appropriate, right? To hear the two of them talked really made the room quite noisy. In a good way, that is. It is quite refreshing change of pace from the so serious Furutaka and Kiso, and also the quiet Isonami and Yayoi. Oh, combine the two with Uzuki and we have a party of them! Hahahaha…

Before we continue, I seem to forget reporting the condition of the base. It just seems to be less interesting than the newcomer girls, but I will still report it. The whole base is in full operation after that one day rest. The majority of the personnel has sobered up nicely with only having a slight headache but still continued on with their task. But the same thing cannot be said with the girls. The destroyers were still in bed. Apparently they have a rather low tolerance to alcohol and this made them still unable to get up, let alone sortie. Thankfully, the newcomers have come fully equipped and ready to go on sortie.

Because of that very reason, we combined the introduction session with the briefing. The introduction session was very…interesting. Well, that is an understatement. The moment Kako saw Furutaka, she flashed a smile and then said something like 'I'll leave it to you then' and started to dozed off. Standing! Really! What a girl she is.

But that's not all. Both Kuma and Tama also reacted…quite uniquely. Maybe that's not the best word to describe it, but let's go with that. You'll be the judge. So, here's the story. After all three introduced themselves, it is the Admiral's turn to introduce the personnel of the base. As one might expected, when they learned my name is similar to their class name, they somehow…how do I say it…look at me differently. As if they are looking at a fellow comrade. I gave Kiso a questioning look and she only gave me a shook of head as her answer. The two looked quite happy to see me to have the name as them as immediately shook my hand. Very friendly bunch of girls the two are.

So after the introduction, the five went to prepare themselves. They went to get their rigging at the warehouse where it was stored and being prepared by the crew. After that, they launch immediately. When I'm recording this, they are still on their expedition to gather more resource. Since the composition is much stronger, I'm not that worried about their safety, as long as they don't go all crazy and reckless.

After that, I went to patrol the whole base since the Admiral asked me to re-check the base's condition. As I went around the base I was pleased to see that, just as I mentioned, it is fully operational. Workers went to one place to another, mechanics toiling away in the workshop, sentries looking on the watchtower in full alertness. Very pleasing for me. The works maybe a lot and more to the overwhelming amount, but they still look very energetic. Even if not, I will push them to be as to compensate for the one day rest they have took. Not to be a tyrant or anything, but this war time. You have to understand that.

Oh yeah, I have one…interesting? Confusing? Uhm…I guess…interesting. Let's stick with that. I have one interesting experience when I was patrolling the base. At one time, I reached the place near the mess hall. Although I didn't get near it, I already know that it was quite packed due to the sound from the inside leaking into the open. I don't really mind since it was nearing lunch time. But then I felt a gaze from behind me. As I immediately looked behind me only to found an empty path behind me. At first, I thought that maybe it was just my imagination.

But after taking a few steps, I felt the same gaze again. I turned around and saw nothing again. Uhm, no. Not exactly nothing. I saw something, or someone, hid themselves behind a crate nearby. I was weighting should I confront it directly or just ignore it. I then decided to not confront it, but I was determined to at least know the identity of the one hiding.

I then walked as normal as I could toward an alley. Just as I expected, the same gaze still fell on my back. Together with that, I could faintly hear the footsteps in somewhat synchronized pattern as mine. As I approached the alley, I turned toward it and then made myself flat onto the wall. Not noticing that, the figure followed me, only to found me nowhere in sight. Since that place was in between two building, it was quite dark, making it difficult for me to recognize the figure in question. But then I greet the figure with a shout, which made the figure let out a very surprised shout. At that, I recognized the voice and called out the name associated with that figure, Isonami.

Isonamu, errr, Isonami turned to see me with frightened and shocked expression. I then asked her what seems to be matter and approached her. But then suddenly her face flushed red and ran pass me without saying anything. I have to say, that was some mind boggling experience. I didn't know how to react to that. I only stood there like a statue, looking at her figure quickly disappeared onto the distance.

Right after I recovered from my shock, I was thinking. Why was she stalking me? Is there something she wanted from me? Why does she have to hide herself? And most of all, why me? All of those questions swam in my mind, but eventually I left the questions as they are since I realized not matter how hard I try, I will not find any kind of answer. Well, even I am not sure whether she like me or hate me. All of her actions were…strange for me. Maybe I will have to sit down with her and talk it out with her directly. But…that is a task easier said than done.

Moving on from my strange encounter with Isonami, I finally arrived at the warehouse only to see a worried looking Admiral there, tapping his head as he stood near the entrance. I greet him and then asked him what's seems to be matter. He then said to me that he was worried about the condition of our supply. When I asked him further, I noticed the reason behind his worry. It was because of the arrival of our newest Fleet Girls. And before I continue any further, no, they are not at fault for anything.

What made the Admiral, and I also included after hearing his explanation, is because the type of those three. All of them are Cruiser Fleet Girl. We fear that they might consume more than the Destroyers. Do emphasize on 'might' since in the first place we even don't know how much they consume. We don't even know how much of our supply the destroyers consume for each sortie, so our fear may be baseless. After hearing this one might think a question along the line of 'how come they don't know something essential like that?', right? In our defense, I will say that even until the founding of our base, we are not supplied with enough information due to the urgency of the task at hand, which is to collect resource as fast as possible. If you remember, we don't even know firsthand how to maintain their equipment. If not for the fairies' help, we will still be fumbling in the dark like a bunch of blind idiots while the war still raging on nearby.

If those girls really do consume more resource for each sortie, then we should reorganize the plan for the future. Sure, they are much stronger and powerful. But precisely because of that we have to use them carefully. We can't send them to easy mission that can be completed by sending the Destroyers. Or at most, we only send a few of them, not the entire group of them like today. It will just be a wasteful action, both in term of resource spending and also the girls' ability.

After a long discussion with the Admiral, we arrived at a conclusion. We need some information. A lot of them, unfortunately. We then agreed that while the Admiral will talk with the girls, I will ask the fairies since they were the one that helped us in maintaining the girls' rigging. When each of us has enough information, we will reorganize the sortie plan for the girls. We will also ask the girls about their opinion.

So…what else should I talk about? I guess…hmm…no, nothing came in mind. The Heavy Cruiser girls and Light Cruiser girls are still on their expedition and will probably arrive tomorrow morning. The Destroyer girls are in their dorm, recovering with hope that they will be able to work again tomorrow. Then…Oh, the expansion! Almost forget! With the addition of the Cruiser Fleet Girls, we really need to have a bigger dorm. Luckily, the fairies have worked over the clock and it is nearly finished. If everything is still following the plan, we can have a bigger dorm in two days. Great, eh? Even with the addition of the new girls, the newly expanded dorm will be more than enough to accommodate more Fleet Girls.

So…yeah, I guess that's all for now. Is there anything else? Hmm…let me check my notes first…This…this…this…hmm…okay, that's all! I guess this means that this is the end of today's recording. I have great expectation for the new girls' performance and very eager to see the result they brought tomorrow. Well, this is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

*click*-


	10. Day 8

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 8 "Reorganizing"**

This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo and today is Tuesday, 11th of August 20XX. This is the eight record of my report.

The day has been kind of cold lately. Well, since it is near fall that is understandable. But since the whole base is brimming with activity, I almost forgot that it is already close to fall. With the addition of the new fleet girls, we are busier than ever. I am particularly happy since the destroyers have been well enough to go into another sortie. With them up and ready, the base is in full operational in every sense. That is a very good news for every one of us. But today there is no sortie since we need to reorganize the girls to make for the best combination possible. Well, no sortie as in no sortie was launched today. The girls from the newest batch have returned from their sortie just this morning and they have brought a good result, but nothing special. More or less they brought similar result as the base's first sortie. Still familiarizing themselves, I suppose. Well since no one is hurt, it is a good result.

Let's start with the first subject in today's report. My discussion with the fairies. And the very first thing that I found from them is that they really love their drink. And I mean really, really, really love it. I'm actually very glad to hear that since the only gift I can prepare is a pair of bottle filled to the brim with the best liquor I could get my hands on. And I can tell you this, don't ever try to compete with them for how many cup you can chug. You'll definitely lose three out of five times, if not all five of them. Trust me. Don't even try. After looking at them enjoying their drink, I have a hunch that the fairies have the condition that doesn't allow them to be intoxicated by alcohol. Impressive, yet very strange. Well, no matter. As long as it doesn't affect their work–unlike some people I know– then I'm perfectly fine with that.

The next thing that I found out is that, just as the Admiral and I expected, the amount of resource each type of girl used is indeed different from one to another. They have explained it to me in so much detail that I have submitted a proper written report to the Admiral right away first thing in the morning, complete with the number and all. To explain it here will take too long, but it can be summarized this way. The destroyer fleet girls will use the least amount of resource, followed by light cruiser, light carrier, heavy cruiser, carrier, and then the battleships fleet girls that consume a whole lot more than any of them. Although the fairies also said that each individual girl may have different consumption, the majority can follow that theory.

After learning about the girl's resource consumption, I also learn about their specialty and also the best use of their ability. The destroyers and the light cruisers, due to their low resource consumption, are very suitable for expedition for gathering resource. The heavy cruiser is an efficient type with powerful punch that doesn't use too much resource. The carrier with their ability to launch plane is a formidable force that can gain air superiority, making it possible to catch the enemies by surprise more often. And then there's the battleship, the big guns. The most powerful of them all. Packed with the heavies punch of them all but, of course, will drain our resource dry in a matter of second if not use carefully.

Oh, I almost forgot about the submarine. Yeah, there are submarine fleet girls. The fairies said that they have the same rate of consumption as the destroyers, but since they are a bit different than the usual fleet girls, they said that they will explain it to me in detail about them later on. That actually made me very curious. But since they already said that, I just have to wait patiently before hearing the explanation. Just like before, I've also included that into my report. I am quite happy to hear a lot of useful information from the fairies. I will have to stock up on some more liquor in case I need their knowledge again. Although I know that they are more than willing to discuss it without the need of alcohol, I just feel appropriate for them to receive a gift or two for their continuous good work. By the way, did we even pay them? I mean, I don't know whether the HQ gives them wages or anything. Might ask about that later with the Admiral.

So the next in my agenda is about the girls. I was chatting with Kiso today in my office right after I submitted the report. Okay, before I continue, I think I need to get something straight just in case of any dangerous misunderstanding. Kiso is the one that came into my office. And no, there is nothing suspicious about it, I assure you of it. The reason for her visit is as simple as she finds my office relaxing. And no, I don't have any strange relationship with her. I just feel that there is a need for me to say it here before some strange misunderstanding is flying around in the base and the existence of this recording is somehow –I hope not– leak into any of them. There is nothing strange going on between the two of us, okay?

Getting back to the topic, I was chatting with Kiso today. We chatted about a lot of things. From her experience in the ocean, to her impression of the newly developed weapon and its efficiency, and any other mundane stuff. If we stopped there, I don't see the need to report this with such detail. But there is one topic of our conversation that I really need to record here. And that is about Isonami. You know how Isonamu…urgh, I mean Isonami, has been acting rather strange lately. I mean about how she stalked me all of a sudden and ran away the moment I found her doing that. Uhm, I have to say that she has become one of the stranger one for me. That is very surprising for me since she started as one that stood out the least among the other girls. I…have to keep that a secret. She might cry when she heard that.

So, getting back to the topic of Isonami, since Kiso was with me, I decided to ask her about it. She then immediately said that she also have no idea about her. She also said that most of the time, Isonami acted normal. In battle, she actually performs very well and follows command without messing up any formation or plan. But Kiso did say that from time to time she acted quite strange. Of course, I didn't tell her that she stalked me the other day since it might bring trouble. Who knows how they will react to that. I'm troubled but her recent behavior, but it is not that troubling to the extent of dangerous. As long as it stays that way, I don't really mind. She also didn't see me in a hostile way anyway. So, yes…that's fine by me.

After a long and rather pleasant talk with Kiso, we decided to get some lunch. You know, talking with her is so easy and relaxing. Maybe since her default character is someone that is easy to talk to, but all I know is that we quickly become friend. Oh, maybe it is because of my name? You know, all that Kuma class stuff. Who knows? All I know is that we had lunch together in the cafeteria today.

Oh, I almost forgot. Along the way, I felt the usual presence behind me. I turned around and once again saw nothing. I then said to Kiso for her to go to the mess hall first since I forgot something in my office. I then literally dashed toward my office that time. But instead of my office, I turned into a narrow place between two buildings. I have to say, the knowledge of the whole base's layout really useful for me, hahaha! And just like before, I hid myself and waited for the one stalking me. And, yes, it is Isonami again. I saw her face very clearly as she ran pass me, clearly confused to where I was. But this time I didn't call her name out but slipped away from her and then run toward the mess hall, leaving her confused. You know, it is kind of fun to do this. Kind of like a game of hide and seek. And I have no intention of confronting her again until she decided by herself to meet me face to face and explain the reason to me. For all I know, it might just be a stage in the girl's growth period. Who knows?

In the afternoon, I went to the Admiral to ask him about his decision for the fleet combination. I am utterly impressed that he finished reading my report that quickly. He also has completed the composition list of the girls. Impressive, isn't he? So with that already in place, we call the girls into the office by the intercom. After they've arrived, the room became noisy as usual. Not that I hate it. In fact, I actually like it. It gave of a pleasant feeling that somehow made me forget that we are at war.

The Admiral then read the composition of the team. The first team's flagship will be Furutaka. She will be together with Isonami, Yayoi, and Kiso. The second team's flagship is Kako. She will be together with Uzuki, Kuma, and Tama. Although it is not as powerful as the first combination since the team is only four personnel each, we can cover more ground. And to the addition of that, the team combination will be changed again in the near future since we have been reported that we will have two more destroyers this week. That is quite a fast move from the HQ. I guess they really want to build this resource gathering base as soon as possible. It is understandable since the war has been hard for everyone and a steady supply of resource is exactly what the frontline force needs.

The Admiral did say that since the overall power of each team is reduced, they need to practice extra caution. If it is possible to avoid a battle, then by all means avoid it. The last thing we need is someone got wounded. He also said that he understands that each and every one of them really wants to proof themselves of how powerful they are on the battlefield. But at the moment, they have to avoid doing unnecessary battle to proof their might on the sea. All they need to do is to collect as many resources as possible. That is more than any of us ask from them and we will be happy to see that.

At first, I thought they will be upset when hearing that. If they are, I can understand. But they all just nodded without saying anything. In fact, I can see some of them showed a bit of relief. The ones who showed that is Isonami and Uzuki. Kiso, on the other hand, showed a bit of disappointment. But she hid that very well that I almost unable to pick that up. Kako…well…is she even awake? I mean, she looked so sleepy that I swear I saw Furutaka nudged her side from time to time. Sheesh, that girl is really something. Is it okay to put her as a flagship?

After seeing the variety of reaction, uhm…okay, the only one who showed a different reaction is Kiso since the other just nodded while I could see– well, barely see– a glint of disappointment from Kiso. After seeing that, I whispered to the Admiral whether we should ask them for their opinion since this is something very crucial. The Admiral agreed and then asked them for their opinion. To my surprise, the one that give the first opinion is Furutaka. She immediately said that splitting the base into two teams is a good idea, but splitting it into two teams right now is not a good idea since the firepower of the team is reduced. Although only reduced slightly, that is more than enough to raise the chance of them being in a dangerous situation. She said that it is better to make it into one full team while the others will rest and change the one that is damaged or tired for the next sortie. That way, we can have someone acted as a backup.

Honestly, when I heard that, I am impressed. First is by her way of thinking. That means that she is not only a capable fighter in the battlefield, but also a strategist that can also think outside of the battlefield. Secondly is by her willingness to communicate her opinion. I don't know about everyone else's opinion, but for me that is a big plus in my book. To have someone that can say what's on their mind while also giving an appropriate reason for it is always something any base should have. Of course, to have too many different opinions without any way of getting into a solid decision will destroy any base. But having no one that is willing and brave enough to give any opinion is also a bad thing.

After hearing her opinion, I waited for the Admiral to make his decision. Although she gave her opinion, the one that has to decide everything is always the highest leader, in this case, the Admiral. I am thankful to report that the Admiral is a man that is willing to hear his subordinate's opinion. In the end, we will wait for the next batch of fleet girls and then we will organize the team once more. I could swear I saw Kiso's eyes showed a satisfied expression although only for a split second. I'll ask for her opinion again next time I meet her. Maybe she is not comfortable to give opinion while being in a large group. She might opened up while we chat by the two of us.

I guess that is all for today's report. Since the whole crew is concentrating on manufacturing the appropriate equipment and ammunition, there's nothing much to report from them. Oh, the dorm is also due to be completed tomorrow. Just right in time, don't you think? Although we don't know when they will come to our base, we can rest assured that their housing will not be a problem. So I'm really relieved to hear that from the fairies. Okay…let's see. The fairies…the girls…hmm…okay, that's all. I really have to report. And since the girls are back on sortie today, I have things to report and that means my night of compiling report will once again continue. This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

*click*-


	11. Day 9

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

 **Chapter 9 "The Second Team"**

This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo and today is Wednesday, 12th of August 20XX. This is the ninth record of my report.

Today we have a pleasant surprise. Apparently, the date for the arrival of the next batch of fleet girl is today. And, yes, that means the plan to reorganize the team has come much sooner than expected. At the moment, the number of fleet girl in our base is exactly ten. Yes, the newcomers are a pair of fleet girl and both of them are destroyer.

The first one is called…Hat…Hatsi…Hatsu…uhm….wait a bit. Cheat sheet…cheat sheet…oh, here it is! Hatsuyuki! Ah, I really need to fix my weak memory soon. She is apparently is from the same class as Isonami. She is the 3rd destroyer of the Fubuki Class special type destroyer. My first impression of her is like seeing Kako in a smaller form. The reason for that? Well…she is…how do I say it? Lacked the necessary energy and motivation to move around. Even her voice was barely audible for me when she was introducing herself. She, just like Kako, doesn't really afraid to show her lacked of energy and spirit. Really, it's just like having two Kako. A smaller one and a big one.

Then the second newcomer is…Miyuki. After learning that Hatsuyuki is Isonami's sister ship, I have to admit that I thought that the whole Fubuki class will be like the two of them. The quiet and calm type of girl. But I the moment I heard Miyuki, who is also in the same class as the two of them, I come to the conclusion that…I have a lot of things to learn about them. I thought that I can judge the default characteristic of the girls that belong to their class after seeing at least two girls that share the same class. But it seems I jumped to conclusion too fast. Far too fast. Let me just start with the statement that Miyuki is absolutely the opposite of the two. Cheerful, energetic, and clearly full of spirit. And loud too. Almost forgot that last one. That is a very important aspect of her since that is the first word that popped into my mind right after hearing her introduction. Even the Admiral is taken aback by her conduct. It seems that he also had the same impression of the Fubuki class due to Isonami's and Hatsuyuki's character. Well, not anymore thanks to Miyuki.

Then right after that, the Admiral asked me to gather all of the girls to the training area. I remembered that Hatsuyuki showed a rather disappointed expression for a split second while Miyuki showed an eager expression right after hearing his instruction. Really. Those two are so different. But since the two is getting along pretty nicely, I have no complaint. So…where was I?...Oh, yes! The girls. Yes, we gathered them at the training area and the Admiral immediately announced the roster of each team. By the lack of any surprise looks from any of them, I guess they already expected that the moment they saw the two new faces with us. Oh, I also have to mention that Isonami looked very happy when she saw Hatsuyuki and Miyuki. The two, just like her, also showed a very happy expression when they saw her. I guess any fleet girl will be happy to see that their sister ship is being assigned together with them.

The first team is led by Furutaka. She will be the flagship and will be in command of Isonami, Miyuki, Kiso, and Kuma. The second team is led by Kako. She will be the flagship and will be in command of Uzuki, Yayoi, Hatsuyuki, and Tama. With that, both teams are consisted of five fleet girls. Although the total firepower from each team is slightly different due to one team has more cruiser than the other team, each team is still relatively strong enough to venture into a slightly more dangerous area. Although we still ask them to avoid cruising recklessly into danger.

But…I know that it is inappropriate to say, but…I think the team is slightly uneven. No, no, no. Not power-wise, but rather…uhm…character-wise? Attitude-wise? Let's go with either of those.

Let me explain. The first team, Furutaka's team, is consists of the base's more energetic girl. Kiso, Miyuki, and Kuma. I can at least consider those three as the more energetic girls. As for Furutaka, I can consider her as a serious girl and as for Isonami I can consider her to be the eager type.

While the other team…the other team…err…You know, putting Hatsuyuki and Kako together…might not be the best action the Admiral has taken so far. The two really shared the same characteristic. Lazy. It is to the point that it seems they can understand each other without any words. I can say that since the moment the two looked at each other, they somehow gave a nod and a thumb up almost immediately and their eyes seemingly said that they have found a true comrade. And…Furutaka and Isonami just shook their head while letting out a heavy sigh as they saw them. They understood what happened. And from what I've heard, Tama is not far from joining their little club of laziness. I've heard report of the crew seeing her lying around on the edge of the pier, lazing around enjoying the warmth of the sun. Kind of reminded me the neighborhood cat I used to see in my school days.

So let me dub the first team 'Genki Team' and the other team 'Sleepy Team'. Sorry, but that is how I perceived them at the moment. I know that judging them this fast is not wise, but I have to say my impression, no? And that is exactly what my first impression of them at the moment. In the future, I hope that my first impression is far from the truth. I would be really happy to see that both team actually can perform wonderfully without any single trouble and can brought magnificent result. That is my honest wish.

Regardless of my very subjective opinion, the team composition is already decided and they will sortie at the same time tomorrow morning. And that led us to the reason why the Admiral is asking them to gather at the training area instead of his office. He asked them to train immediately with their respective teammates to ensure that they can familiarize themselves before the real deal tomorrow. He also asked me to bring everyone's equipment before gathering the girl to make them able to train immediately. So far there has been no significant problem that can be seen from their teamwork. I guess that is a good sign for us.

And…what else is there? Hmm…Oh, I finally meet with Isonami. And I mean meeting as in seeing face to face, not being stalked like before. The story goes like this. After everyone has finished their training, I instructed my crew to prepare everything so that the girls can sortie immediately first thing in the morning. Ammunition, rigging, and other equipment. I instructed them to prepare them as soon as possible. And just after I've finished organizing my crew, one of them came and told me that the dorm is done. With that, I decided to inspect the finished construction immediately. And there she was. My stalker, Isonami. Next to her is Yayoi and Uzuki. The two noticed me but stayed quiet. Isonami, on the other hand, was too late to notice me. The moment she noticed me, I was already close to her. She turned her back quickly and seemingly wanted to run away. Unfortunately for her, her two fellow destroyers caught her and stopped her escape plan right before she could even start running. They forced her to look at me and then pushed her toward me. I remember that I could only give a wry smile at that time.

Then Isonami started to shake and tremble. She also sweated furiously. Poor girl is like a frog being stared by a snake. Before I could say anything, she immediately bowed her head to me and apologized to me for all the troubles she has made. Apparently, she stalked me with intention of talking to me but every time she did that, she lost her courage to do so, making her continued to follow me around while trying to gather her courage. Really, she is rather strange, don't you think? But I am convinced that she has no ill will toward me. Kind of too serious, but no ill will whatsoever. She also apologized for hugging without letting me go when she was drunk. And also for crying every times I forgot her name. Isn't that last one supposed to be my fault?...You know, I felt very guilty just by remembering that now.

Of course, I forgive her. In fact, I told her that it was not something I think she should really apologize so seriously. I mean, every one of them show a very different reaction when drunk. I kept telling her to relax and don't think about it. Although she smiled and nodded when I said that, I…somehow felt that she still felt guilty. I don't know. I just feel that when I looked at her eyes. But…maybe I was just overthinking it. Who knows?

So…with that out of the way, I asked them to accompany me in inspecting the dorm. I want to hear their opinion since they will be the one that live there. Oh, how happy they were at that time. It seems the thought of taking the first look inside the newly built dormitory really excited them. And I'm happy to report that they are very satisfied at what they saw. Although they still gave me a couple of input here and there, I think they are just minor things that can be solved later. I have already put that into my daily report that I gave to the Admiral though.

Before I leave the three of them, the three said to me that they are very eager to start working and can't wait to sortie. They also said that since they will work in a new team, they are really looking forward to do it. I have the feeling that there is something behind their eagerness that seemed to be strange. As I asked them, the three let out a wry smile and they gave their reason. It seemed that they are feeling somewhat guilty for being out of commissioned due to overdrinking. Although fighting is not exactly the thing they like to do, but the thought of them leaving their duty because of their own fault really weighted on their mind. Such a dedicated bunch of girl they are. I really am happy to be able to support they who showed dedication even after knowing how dangerous the situation in. I praised them and said how proud I am hearing that from them. It meant so much for me who can only support them from the base and I promised them to have the best equipment ready for their next sortie. I really hope they can give their best.

In the evening, I attend the strategy meeting with the Admiral. Both teams were present and we discussed about their route. The Admiral has chosen two different routes for the teams. While we discuss the strategy, I have to say I am very surprised to see Kako being very active. She drew out her strategy quite clearly and in a very methodical way. It seems that I am too quick to judge Kako. I guess she can show some effort when she needed too. Hatsuyuki on the other hand…well…let's just say that I hope she listened to the briefing clearly. Although I said that Kako is someone that can show some effort, I'm sorry to say that her sister ship, Furutaka, still seemed to be the one that had the brighter mind between the two. While Kako showed her strategy in such good manner, Furutaka showed that she has the knack to plan a very successful mission. Her strategy is quite detail and cover all aspect even to the little detail. I'm very impressed to see. Seeing the two leaders gave good performance in briefing their team and explaining their strategy, I am very excited to see the result they will bring.

And that is all for today's report. I have already checked the equipment for their sortie tomorrow and the crew has done maintaining each part wonderfully. The ammunition has also been prepared. I pray that they will do their best and they can all come back all safe while also bringing out the best result. This is 2nd Class Petty Officer Kuma Miyazo signing off.

*click*-


	12. Day 9 SS

******Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).******

* * *

Chapter 9.5 "Sister Ship"

As the base begin to be filled with a lot more fleet girls, the room distribution has also changed. The destroyer has been divided into two different rooms, the Fubuki-class room and the Mutsuki-class room, while the light cruiser girls have been put into one room. Coincidently, the member of that particular room came from the same class. So it is safe to say that the room distribution in the base has been made in according to their class.

In one room that is large enough to accommodate six girls, two girls were enjoying their lazy time. One is busy with her book while the other is busy with cleaning her own bed.

"Ne, Yayoi-chan."

"Hmm?"

"What do you think about Miyazo-san?"

"…Uzuki-chan…don't tell me…"

"It's not-pyon." The girl quickly shook her head. "Whatever it is you think, don't go there-pyon."

"Then why the sudden question?"

"Well, I'm just curious-pyon." She then let her body fell onto the tidied up bed and proceeded to roll around and around, enjoying the soft bed. "Yup, just curious-pyon."

"…It's because of Isonami-chan, right?"

"Hehehe, Yayoi-chan is as sharp as ever." A short giggle followed that reply. "Yup, since Isonami-chan is always talked about him, I'm interested as what do you think-pyon."

"Hmm…Miyazo-san, is it?" Yayoi closed her book and tilted her head slightly. "I think…he is a nice person. He is strict with the other but know when to cut loose."

"So overall, a nice person and a good leader-pyon?" Yayoi gave a slight nod.

"And he cares about us too."

"Ho?"

"He did listen to our suggestion and also report quite attentively."

"Hmm…you got a point there-pyon."

"So what does Uzuki-chan think?" The serious looking Yayoi looked at her sister ship as she asked that. "What do you think about him?"

"Hmm…I think I have the same opinion as Yayoi-chan. So why is Isonami-chan so focused on him-pyon?"

"I think that is just her nature. She wants to prove herself that she can become a good fleet girl."

"But why Miyazo-san? Why not the Admiral-pyon?"

"…Good question. Maybe because she want him to remember her?" Yayoi then let out a sigh. "After all, he did forget her name several times. Only after Isonami-chan hugged him that he remembers her."

"And also after stalking him-pyon." When she said that, the two gave out a sigh. "I don't think being remembered due to that is a good thing-pyon."

"…As long as he remembers her, I think Isonami-chan will be happy."

"Even if it is because of a strange thing-pyon?"

"…Well…she might cry if she realized that."

"…Ugh, I guess she will, right?" The two then looked at each other and let out a tired sigh.

* * *

In another room, three girls were also lazing around. Since the time to sortie is drawing near, they have decided to conserve their energy.

"Kiso-chan."

"What is it, Kuma-nee?" said the eye patch wearing girl who is occupied in sorting her collection of eye patches.

"I heard some strange information from Tama concerning you-kuma."

"Huh? From Tame-nee?" She stopped her hand and looked at her sister ship with a slight confusion. "What is it?"

"She said that she has seen you getting out of the chief engineer's room today-kuma." The namesake ship of the class then turned to look at her. "What's the matter? Did you need to get something from there-kuma?"

"Oh, you mean from Miyazo-san's office?" She nodded. "Well, I just go there for a chat."

"For a chat-kuma?" Kuma raised one of her eyebrows. "About what-kuma?"

"About…hmmm…anything and everything, I guess." Kiso then continued to sort her collection. "He is a nice guy and a good conversation partner. It is easy to talk with that guy."

"Is that so-kuma?" Kiso nodded at her question. "I see…ne, Kiso, I forgot to tell you that you have been called by Furutaka for a short debriefing a while ago-kuma."

"E-Eh!?"

"Something about a change in the formation…I don't know…"

"W-Why didn't you say so sooner, Kuma-nee!?" She then dashed away from her collection and exited the room.

As she left the room, Tama looked from her bunk bed onto Kuma that is left standing near the door, closing it.

"So, it is right-nya."

"It is-kuma."

"So what is the plan-nya?"

"We observe him-kuma." Kuma looked at her sister ship. "It is our duty as her older sister to keep an eye for her-kuma!"

"Well, as long as it doesn't disturb my catnap time-nya."

* * *

Sound of footsteps could be heard as three girls that wore similar sailor uniform walked. One of them, the short haired one, kept staring at the one in the middle.

"M-Miyuki-chan, is there something on my face?" The one being stared at, Isonami, asked with a wry smile on her face.

"Nah, nothing's on your face, Isonami-chan." A grin appeared on her face after she said that. "I was just thinking about the rumor I have been hearing."

"E-Eh?" A slight uncomfortable feeling built up inside Isonami's mind as she heard that. She didn't know why that feeling came into her mind. "What rumor?"

"Oh, playing a fool now, eh?"

"Eh?" She looked at Miyuki that has widened her grin after hearing her question. "W-What is it, Miyuki-chan?"

"Come on now, Isonami-chan." A soft pat landed on her back courtesy of Miyuki. "You know what I'm talking about."

"U-Uhm, n-no?" She shook her head slightly. "What rumor? Really, I don't know."

"Really, Isonami-chan." Miyuki shook her head while letting out 'tsk' sound a couple of time. "There's no need to hide it for us. In fact, it is too late to do that."

"Hide it? I'm not hiding anything." She pouted a little at that. "Come on, Miyuki-chan. Tell me."

"It's about you chasing a guy in the base." Unexpectedly, the one that give that answer was not Miyuki, but the third girl in the group, the always sleepy Hatsuyuki.

Isonami widened her eyes at that point. She didn't say anything after hearing that from her sister ship. She could only look at the grinning Miyuki and the yawning Hatsuyuki without saying anything.

"Awww…I was just going to play a little longer, Hatsuyuki-chan." Miyuki said with a slight disappointment in her voice. "It's fun seeing her reaction."

"Then this reaction is good too, right?" Hatsuyuki pointed at her friend that had her mouth gaping open, letting out intangible words ever so often. "See?"

"Hmm, you're right." A short laugh escaped Miyuki's mouth. "It is a good reaction. Good job, Hatsu–"

"W-W-W-W-WHAT!?"

At the sudden shriek, the two immediately distanced themselves from the source of that voice. They looked toward it with widened eyes. Then suddenly a pair of hand grabbed Miyuki's shoulder, scaring her slightly while making Hatsuyuki backed off onto the wall, distancing herself from any possible danger.

"W-W-What?"

"MIYUKI-CHAN!"

"Y-Y-Yes?"

"TELL ME WHAT YOU HEARD!"

"E-Eh? What I heard?"

"THE R.U.M.O.R!" The grip on Miyuki's shoulder tightened. If that was not enough to scare the already terrified destroyer, then the fact that she is faced with a pair of glaring bloodshot eyes will certainly does the job. "ALL OF IT!"

"Y-Y-Yes, ma'am!"


End file.
